Minamoto Kenji Kusakage
by JiMmIyZ
Summary: Kenji is a 10 year old boy living in Kusa who has just entered the ninja academy with aspirations of becoming the Kusakage, the single shadow that protects his village. Follow his exploits from an academy student to Genin, Chuunin, jounin, kage.
1. Chapter 1: Minamoto Kenji

Hey guys, this is my first attempt at writing some fan fiction. I'm sticking with an OC cast as I don't exactly know what I'd do with the Naruto, Sakura, etc.

The general story line is that of an academy student going on to be a Jonin. I'm conflicted on where to set the story my two main preferences being Konoha or Kusa but I'm settling on Kusa as it's my favoured option as of now. Set ten years after the 4th great shinobi war.

* * *

The sun rose, a little later then usual for a February morning, and the alarm of Minamoto Kenji's clock began to sound. He shut it off and, with a yawn, slowly began to get ready for the day.

After attempting to put on a grey t-shirt and tripping over a skateboard, that he never really tried to learn to ride, he wandered over to his bathroom mirror. He brushed his teeth and then fixed his hair. Kenji had grey chin length hair and matching grey eyes.

Wandering over to his calendar he looked over his schedule. As soon as he checked the date he beamed with excitement, threw on his black karate out fit and quickly ran for the door with great enthusiasm.

"It's finally here, the day I start at the academy!" he cheered. "Right after my morning training I'll be able to walk inside the academy and start training to be a ninja at last!"

Kenji enrolled in karate lessons when he was just 4 years old. He was being bullied by other students at his pre school and after seeing a group of thugs get beat up by a karate practitioner he enrolled and was a black belt by age 9. He began to rebel against his teachers at school and started fights with kids much older then him and always won.

That is until he picked a fight with a Genin, who'd just graduated the academy. Kenji was beat bad and since then has taken to being nice to people after a lecture from the Genin's Jounin sensei. Ever since, he's wanted to be a ninja.

He was envious of the children of other villages such as Konohagakure, which allowed enrolments at age eight instead of ten, although they graduated from the academy at roughly the same age so he assumed that the teaching would be more fast tracked and less thought out in his academy then Konoha's but that didn't worry him, he'd always been a quick study.

"This is great, I'm gonna blow everyone out of the water. There all going to be amazed at how quick I become a shinobi." said Kenji as he began to stretch for the upcoming work out. "I'm already adept at Taijutsu so I can pour all my efforts into learning their Ninjutsu and Genjutsu."

_This is gonna be a great day _Thought Kenji as he began his black belt pattern. _I'm gonna be so good that the Kusakage will be impressed with me and someday I'll be the Kusakage and then everyone will respect me and I'll finally have friends. _And with that final thought he finished his pattern and diverted all of his attention to his trainingand began to jog down the road.

* * *

After a… semi intense morning training session Kenji had breakfast and then took a shower. He dressed in a blank black T-shirt, grey cargo shorts, and a white hooded jumper, all without any particular logo or brand.

Kenji Smiled as he pulled on his boot. "Hehe time to go" he whispered in anticipation as he open his door and began down the street.

Kusa was a fairly large city, not as big as the five great nations but large enough to have its own ninja, as well as a fair sized samurai army. Kenji lived in an apartment complex next to the residential districts in the west of the village. The Business districts were towards the east of the village and the Kusakage's office and the ninja academy were in the centre of the village.

The north end of the village was mostly farming and forest areas and the south end was the main village entrance.

On his way to the village Kenji stopped to peer into a window of a florist. He'd always enjoyed growing plants and flower arrangement. It was just something to distinguish himself from the other boy's in his village, something to make them notice him.

Resuming his course to the academy he noticed parents walking with there children, there children hurrying them along, although in some cases it was the reverse and the parents were hurrying there children along.

He assumed that they were also to attend the academy he was going to attend, as regular schooling began the next day. He averted his gave to look forward and he paused and stared at a large building in front of him.

He began to smile from ear to ear then ran towards the building, the ninja academy.

He found his way around the entrance and took his place in the crowd as the ceremony for the new students began.

He looked around at the other new students and as he did he couldn't help but notice that all the students were with their parents and he was the only one standing alone.

His parents had both died; his father was a conscript that was killed in the Great War ten years ago and his mother died in child birth. He had no idea if he had any other family but considering that he had been living alone for as long as he could remember he doubted it.

Turning back to look at the Kusakage who was giving a speech to the new students and then looking down at his feet he let himself feel a moment of grief but as soon as then moment came he snapped out of it quick smart remembering what he told himself that morning "_I'm gonna be so good that the Kusakage will be impressed with me and someday I'll be the Kusakage and then everyone will respect me and I'll finally have friends."_

_I can't become the Kusakage if I keep thinking like this _Kenji thought to himself as he stomped the ground quietly and then looked back at the Kusakage with envy and determination. _I'm gonna work hard and make lot's of friends, then I won't be alone anymore and one day Kusakage-sama I'm gonna have your job._

When the ceremony was over, parents were given a few more moments to say goodbye to the children and then classes were supposed to begin. Kenji looked at his timetable. First on his agenda was… Ninja tactics or study period as the students called it, then Chakra building, and then… Kenji's face lit up. "Yes Taijutsu class, I'm gonna show everyone how great I am, I'm gonna be so good everyone is going to be jealous of me and then they'll want to be my friend."

With that he was on his way skipping down the hall humming a happy tune.

**To be continued**

* * *

Well that's my first attempt; tell me what you think guys, if I do go on with it I won't bore you too much with the academy. I'll find a way to fast track it to Genin, without actually fast tracking it Genin which means I will fast track it to Genin but with a plausible reason.

I edited this chapter a little bit. I don't exactly want to completely rewrite the whole thing so this edit will have to do.


	2. Chapter 2: Taijutsu Specialist

Hey again, I felt like writing a second chapter before I wrote off the fact if I should continue or not with this. I wanted to just see how it pans out. Even if no one on the whole website likes it I may just continue with this for personal enjoyment.

On a side note, please take into consideration that even though I haven't wrote in characters such as Naruto, Sakura, etc. it doesn't mean I won't. Character building with the original character ATM is all.

* * *

**Five months later**

It was late at night and the Kusakage was rummaging through paperwork around a large circular table with some Jounin and Chuunin sensei who teach at the academy.

They were deciding which teams would be assembled when the graduating students would be Genin.

It had been decided that all the third year academy students would be allowed to pass in an attempt to compete with the rapidly increasing military of the five great nations,

"You know you really didn't have to come out here Kusakage-sama" mentioned a chuunin teacher. "We can manage these papers ourselves; you didn't have to deprive yourself of sleep just to oversee what we could have presented to you completed in the morning."

"Ah yes but still this is a military matter and a matter that is growing in importance as time goes on" he replied in rebuttal. "I don't not need to remind you that the great nations are asserting more and more pressure on us as they rebuild there strength after the Great War. These children will grow up to be the future of our military strength and so we must ensure that they are looked after properly, so who am I to put aside their needs just for an hours sleep?"

"Yes Kusakage-sama" agreed the Chuunin quickly returning to his work.

"You know Kusakage-sama; I think there's also another ulterior motive that is driving you to be here at such an ungodly hour" spoke a Jounin who was sitting to the left of the Kusakage.

"It's impossible to hide things from you now isn't it Seito-san" laughed the Kusakage.

Seito was a tall Jounin with a shaven head of brown hair. He wore a Kusa Jounin flack jacket on top of a black-green jump suit, his headband over his forehead and wooden sandals.

"You are right; I do wish to see how my grand daughter is fairing in the academy."

"I don't blame you, I'd also like to see how my family were fairing if they were in the academy but unfortunately, I'm the lone ninja in my family. No prestigious clan to my name" said Seito

"But you still are a very formidable shinobi Seito-san, and all great clans have a starting point" inferred the Kusakage.

"Well I have you to thank for my skills Kusakage-sama, after all it was you who trained me."

"Yes but it was your actions that made you such a fine student" insisted the Kusakage. "Don't seel yourself short; modesty is an unnecessary annoyance between you and me."

"Yes Kusakage-sama, although. I would have imagined that you would be up to date with your granddaughter's progress."

"I am but not completely. For example I hear praise of her accomplishments from her father but I have yet to see her report cards myself" said the Kusakage while looking at her file "And I must admit that praise is well deserved."

"Indeed, she is going to make a fine shinobi, she's top of the class in all fields." "Leader ship, team work, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, the list goes on" praised Seito.

"Yes and it's because of her skill that makes it makes it so difficult to place her" differed a Jounin to the right of the Kusakage.

"It is difficult to place her with others who would compliment her skill isn't it, although I have found one." Insisted the Kusakage "This one, a boy named Naka Yuji"

"Hmmm, I imagine that they would complement each other fairly well but there's still something missing" Seito pondered.

"There's no grunt in the team sir!" A Chuunin sensei overzealously pointed out "They need someone with a good knock-out punch in the team."

The Kusakage glared at the Chuunin "And are you inferring that my granddaughter does not have this 'grunt' and 'knockout punch' you so are so infatuated with?"

"No, no my lord" squeaked the chuunin "it's just…"

"I think what he means is that while you granddaughter is very skilled at the shinobi arts, she is to well rounded and maybe someone who is… a little… less should be incorporated into the team" said Seito, saving the Chuunin from the wrath of the Kusakage.

"So… Are you suggesting that a Taijutsu Specialist should become a member?" questioned the Kusakage.

"Ah, Maybe. It seems that the team is lacking in the Taijutsu department" replied the Chuunin.

"A Taijutsu specialist huh?" said Seito while leaning back on his chair, staring at the ceiling. "I know just the person."

Seito walked over to a filing cabinet, sorted though some files and then brought one back to the table.

"This one? But he's only a first year" Scoffed a Jounin.

"Explain yourself Seito" demanded the Kusakage.

"Well he is incredibly adept at Taijutsu, a Taijutsu specialist, and he is up to scratch on the bare minimums of becoming a Genin"

The Chuunin who first suggested the 'grunt' spoke up "Well that is true, ever since we taught him how to incorporate Chakra in his body; he's out-fighting some of the instructors."

"He does seem like a good choice to round out the team" said a Jounin hesitantly.

"Yeah" agreed a Chuunin.

"Then it's decided" announced the Kusakage "The team will consist of Naka Yuji, Katsuragi Misato and Minamoto Kenji."

"Provided he passes the Genin exam" mentioned another Jounin teacher "best to also find someone else as a back up."

"Yes unlike the other students, he will actually have to pass these exams to be a Genin, he hasn't had the training the others had." said the Kusakage puzzled at the fact he had gotten a bit carried away and forgotten that he was not garneted to be a Genin as the others were.

"I would not have suggested him if I did not believe he was ready" confirmed Seito "He will pass the exam".

"Then I repeat, it is decided" said the Kusakage announcing for the second time.

All present nodded there head in agreement and resumed their work.

* * *

Kenji yawned, disinterested in the class lecture and looked out the window. He saw a group of third year students running laps around an athletics track, a group practicing with shuriken and another siting in the shade of a tree reading.

_Probably all studying for the Genin exam _He thought turning to face the instructor. He wished he could take the exam as well, even if he failed at least he would learn from it and have an advantage for the next time he took it.

Kenji was sitting by himself; at least 3 open seats separated him from another student.

He had a plan to become popular and make friends so he wouldn't be alone but that had back fired on him. He was hoping that his skill in Taijutsu would make him desirable to the other students. Instead it made everyone scared of him, knocking out three students like it was nothing would do that.

Even the advanced students in his class were terrified or maybe they were just ignoring him abilities so it didn't diminish their own.

_It's not like being better then them at Taijutsu is a bad thin- _His thoughts were cut off by the sounds of the bell ringing.

He packed up his books and started to walk out when he heard someone calling his name.

"Minamoto-kun, may I speak with you for a moment?"

It was Yasuhisa Seito, one of the teachers at the academy but he taught a different class.

_Come to think of it, he should be teaching the class the third years should be in now _thought Kenji.

"Ah, yes Seito-Sensei" replied Kenji after a moment of hesitation.

Slowly Seito exhaled and leaned against a desk and said "Kenji, I have put your name down for the Genin exams" in a slow, calm tone.

"You what?"

"I put your name down for the Genin exams" said Seito in a slightly sharper tone.

"But why? I mean I'm only a first year student and you have to be a third year student for the exams!"

"Yes but I believe you're on par with them… Well physically anyway" said Seito while now adjusting his headband.

"You may be behind in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu but you're just above the mark for bare minimum. And Taijutsu wise you're a cut above the rest, even managing to challenge some of the instructors, even though they're just shadow clones."

"But, but-" Kenji began

"I don't wanna hear it, I already signed you up so you're gonna take that test" Seito said a little annoyed now. Most kids would just start running around and jumping for joy or something by now but Kenji was just standing there with a dumb look on his face. "You're already adequate in the transformation, substitute and clone jutsu, you'll do although you may need some extra attention from your Jounin Sensei for a little while but other then that you'll be fine."

"So… I'll be a Genin?" Asked Kenji who still had that dumb look on his face

"If you pass the test you will be" Seito answered simply before chuckling and adding "a Genin with the lowest score but a Genin all the same"

Still with that dumb look on his face Kenji asked "But I'll be a ninja?"

Seito was really agitated with that look now "yes and stop looking at me like that!"

Kenji's whole facial expression changed in an instant and with intense excitement began to scream "Really! Really! I get the chance to be a ninja!" Kenji was never expecting an answer as he'd already decided.

"I won't let you down sensei, na-uh I definitely won't" and with that he ran out the room and headed towards the library to get some books so he could study when he got home.

"Wait I haven't told you when the exam is!" called Seito

"That's ok Seito-sensei, I already know" and with that he was gone and out of site.

"Well that's that… and here I was thinking he wasn't just like every other kids his age" remarked Seito with a smirk.

He then felt another presence in the room. _Is it the other instructor_ he thought? _No he left when all the other students cleared out_. So who was it?

He readied a kunai "Who's there?" he cried and then suddenly relaxed.

"Oh it's just you, what do you want?"

**To be continued**

* * *

Well there's chapter 2, hopefully you enjoyed it. A little rushed but it should be good. Sort of wanted to finish reading a different fan fiction. I've been reading old souls by Jfalcon. It's pretty brilliant. Up to chapter 26 . Please review.


	3. Chapter 3: My name's Misato

Chapter 3, giving it my best shot at this point. Still a newbie give me a break :P…

* * *

Seito stood in silence as the woman standing at the opposite end of the room approached him.

She had black wavy hair that went down to her shoulders and complimented her big green eyes. She wore a black mini skirt with a Black tank top and a white sash around her waist on an angle. She also wore black leggings, a shuriken holster on her left leg and a head band with the Kusa emblem embedded in the centre.

"So what do you want" he asked in a rather rude manor.

"I wanted to see my new student" replied the woman but Seito looked at her suspiciously.

"What am I not allowed too get some background information on my future disciple?" spat the woman, clearly agitated now as such turned away from Seito and walked over to a window.

"No, it's just that your already addressing him as your student, you know that he might not pass the exam" answered Seito as he stood next to her and also peer out the window.

"I thought every Genin was meant to pass regardless of the exam results in order to boost up the countries military power."

"Please Haru-Chan, you know just as well as I do that that it isn't the case with this one" barked Seito, now the agitated one. "The kids been in the ninja academy for less then six months, he's barely got a handle on the most basic jutsu and what, you think that he's gonna pass just like that?"

"He's got a forty/sixty shot at best but that's only if he trains his heart out every single day before the exam but not only is he gonna have to train, he'll have to train to the point of death in everyone of those training sessions and then there's the written exam."

Both stood in silence for a moment and stared out at the students training out in the play ground.

Seito noticed that one of the students aim with senbon was improving to a noticeable degree but was cut short in mental congratulations and Haru inhaled deeply and walked towards and empty desk.

She took a seat and exhaled but did not speak for another moment.

"But you have faith in him don't you Seito-san?" she asked

Seito remained quiet, his facial expression expressing his confusion.

"You wouldn't have requested him if you didn't"

"Yes" Seito replied his voice now void of all hints of anger.

"But how do you know I'm not wrong?" asked Seito as he raised an eyebrow to the woman.

"Because you're a great shinobi yourself Yasuhisa Seito-san and you would not have put his name forth if you did not think him a talented individual" Haru replied simply.

"Heh, I'm not that great"

"Hmm, granted you're out of shape… and out of practice… but I think I still see some greatness underneath that fat belly of yours" teased Haru.

"Fat belly!" roared Seito as he lifted his shirt up, displaying his abbs "This look like a fat mans stomach to you" indicating his six pack.

"Easy boy, you know I was just joshing ya" stated Haru attempting to calm the man "you have real mind-body issues, you know that?"

"Humph" exclaimed Seito obviously annoyed with the conversation.

"So you read his files then?" he asked

"Yeah the kids a real prodigy in Taijutsu" shrugged Haru "but that about it for him."

"You say he's a prodigy, I say he's a kid" Seito coldly stated.

"He's been doing it since he was four, I mean it's not like he's only been training it for 5 months like most of the other kids."

"All we did was teach him to divert his Chakra to his arms and legs to help him with his body's speed and power" announced Seito as he sat down at the teacher's desk.

Haru looked inquisitively at Seito. She noted that he neglected to mention that Kenji had managed to master 3 different types of jutsu in those 5 months. Jutsu that usually took years of training even if they were basic.

_Well maybe master is to strong a word _she thought but decided not to debate it.

"Still, he's adapted his movements to suit his new speed and power fairly well" mentioned Haru "doesn't he get any credit for that?"

"I 'unno and I don't care really" dismissed Seito "It's not like it matters to me whether he's an untalented ninja or not."

"Oh but you see it does, it effects you in a very big way" said Haru as a smirk appeared on her face.

"Explain" demanded Seito.

Haru walked over to him. A very slow and sensual walk and then hugged him tightly.

"Well if by chance he does somehow fluke out a pass in the exams when he really is 'terrible' well then you'd have me at your doorstep every night complaining and venting my frustration of how 'terrible' he is to you all night long Seito-Chan" said Haru as she released him from her grasp.

"Well you just gave me a reason to grade him a lot more harshly then would be fair 'Kaida-Chan'" Seito said in a tone that made Kaida unsure if he was joking or not.

"Oh, like you'd hate that Yasuhisa-san" sarcastically replied Kaida and began for the door "I bet your secretly hoping that the kids is a real screw up 'hoping' that I actually meant what I said, oh, and by the way I didn't"

"Yeah what ever, you and I both know where we stand relationship wise Haru-Chan."

"Yeah I guess I made that fairly clear didn't I" said Kaida "Anyways, catch ya round."

"See ya" called Seito

He was alone now, this time for sure. _No presence here other then myself _hethought as he opened up a draw for the teacher's desk, removing a file.

_You're wrong Haru-Chan, I don't want him to be a screw up, and if anything I want him to be the greatest shinobi in the world. I know who this child is; I know why the Kusakage was so willing to let this kid take the exam. It was all just a test to see if my theory was right. _Seito flicked through Kenji's file and then placed it back in the draw.

_I still have time, maybe it's time I come out of this semi-retirement of mine? No that'd just make Kusakage-sama suspicious… And I suppose training him and taking personal interest would also make him ask questions if he caught wind of it, best not to risk getting caught._

Seito then made his way to the door way and shut the light off.

"Good luck kid, you'll need it. I'll be there to help but I'm afraid that won't be enough."

Seito then began down the hallways towards the exits of the building. I was getting late and the sun was already beginning to set.

_Maybe I should talk to Kaemon about this. _The thought passed through his head. _Yes I'll speak with Kaemon, he'll do something or at least know something about it and if I get him on my side Kaida will be more willing to betray the Kusakage if the need arises._

He closed and locked the building as he began his way home. Kaemon was away on a mission so he couldn't go see him right now. He decided that he'd better go grocery shopping while the stores were still open.

Walking down the street, towards the shopping district he began weighing his options while he also decided on what to have for dinner that night.

"I think… I'll have ramen tonight" he muttered to himself as he entered the store.

There'll be time to think about the issue later with Kaemon. _For now it's best to clear my mind and focus on food _thought Seito.

* * *

Kenji exited the shower and made his way to his bedroom. He threw on some pants and the checked his clock. 8:35 am it read.

He looked around his small apartment. It was a mess, scrolls and books everywhere, he borrowed them from the library so he could study but now they seem like there clutter.

_What made me think that I could read all these books in just under a month?_ He thought.

All up he had roughly 25 books that had at least 330 pages with small text and 17 long scrolls.

The books were about history, science, math and one or two on tactics and the scrolls were all instruction manuals for jutsu.

It was Sunday, tomorrow the exam would be held.

"No more training for me today, best I can probably do is just take it easy the rest of the day" he spoke aloud to himself. "Maybe I should read a book a tactics; I've sort of left them untouched these past few weeks."

He rummaged through a stack of books and noticed an unusual title, Make out paradise, how'd that get in there. He set the book down with the rest and continued searching.

"Ah here we go" he cheered "basic shinobi tactics"

_Pretty thick book_ he thought to himself and frowned and then, regaining his composure thought_ well better start reading_

He relaxed on his bed and then began reading, taking his time reading each page; he slowly made his way through the book.

Suddenly he heard something growl and looked down.

"That you old friend?" he asked his stomach.

"Well I guess we haven't had anything to eat yet"

He glanced at his clock 9:47 am it told him and he walked to the fridge. Empty.

"Guess I'll have to go to the store, I wonder how much money I have? I can't have that much left"

Kenji had been eating a lot more then usual these past few days. It gave him the energy he needed for his training.

He noticed the effect the intense training had had on his body. He'd become a little muscular. The bulge of his bicep now an inch thicker and toned.

After shaking his wallet and counting the change he made his way to the door.

"Oh, wait" he said as he spun around and picked up the book he'd been reading. "I might as well take this with me and read on the way."

With that he again made his way to the door, locking it as he left and walked towards the shopping district.

Kenji entered the shop, face buried in his book. He walked over to an isle and picked up some instant noodle containers.

* * *

_Probably best to just cheap out for a while_ he reasoned and after picking up a container of milk he made his way to the check out.

As he left the store though he was bumped and dropped the book he was to involved in reading.

"Oops sorry" the girl apologised as she picked up the book she knocked out of his hands.

The girl had dark blue hair, reminiscent of the colour of eggplant, tan skin and lavender-blue eyes. Her hair is in a hime-cut style, at chin-length.

She wore a black shirt under a bright red jacket, a black Mini skirt and black boots that went half way up her shin.

"No, my fault I wasn't paying attention" he assured her "to busy reading that book I suppose."

"Basic shinobi tactics, huh? You a ninja?" she asked.

"Oh no, just in the academy right now but soon" he said as he smirked.

_Cool this girl thought I was a ninja, thank you intense training _he thought to himself.

"Yeah you do look a little small to be a shinobi" she stated.

_Ouch take that confidence._

"Hey come to think of it I've seen you around the academy" she continued "you're a first year right?"

"Uh, yeah" was all he could muster up to answer her.

"So you're in the academy to?" he asked.

"Yep but not for long" she replied.

"I'm a third year student and with the exam's coming up I'm going to be a Genin soon."

"But what if you fail the test?"

"Oh, don't worry" she assured him "I'm a shoe in."

_A little overconfident _he mused to himself _although you gotta be confident in your abilities to be an effective ninja, so I guess its ok._

"The names Katsuragi Misato by the way, what's yours?"

"Oh, my name's Minamoto Kenji" he answered.

"Wait, you're him?" she seemed a little shocked.

"Umm, yeah last time I checked" he joked.

"You know I've heard about you" Misato said "You're supposed to be some sort of Taijutsu genius or something."

"Yeah that's what people have been saying but really I've just been doing it longer then most of the other students" Kenji replied.

"And you're modest too, the whole package huh"

Kenji didn't like the idea of being referred to as a 'package' but didn't question it.

"Well I've got to go kid but I'll see you again later" she bowed and then turned to leave.

"Uh, yeah see ya."

_Well looks like you've made a friend Kenji _he joked to himself. _Still I can't shake the feeling that I will see her again, weird._

With that final thought he realised he was still holding his shopping bag and decided he'd best go home and put the milk in the fridge.

He began to read his book again but this time was careful to observe his surrounding and then began to walk home.

* * *

_Weird _Misato thought to herself _I really do think that I'm going to see that kid again. And soon._

She slapped the sides of her checks_ I can't let myself get distracted, I've got the whole Katsuragi clan's expectations to fulfil. No time for kids who'll always dream but never become a great shinobi like me._

She dismissed meeting Kenji as a one off thing and chose not to dwell on it any further. She reached her front gate, paused for a moment and then entered.

_I've got the weight of the whole Katsuragi clan's dreams bearing down on my shoulders. There's no time for distractions._

**To be Continued**

* * *

Well that's the chapter; did I just start a conspiracy? Yes I did. What is this conspiracy? That's for me to know :P.

Please review.


	4. Chapter 4: The Genin Exams

Chapter 4, hopefully I can move on from the academy days to fully start in Kenji's Ninja era now. Soon the chapters will get longer and more characters will be introduced. I've sort of only referenced them lately haven't I…? Oh well.

I do not own the right's to Naruto or make out paradise.

* * *

'_Beep, beep, beep.' _The sound of Kenji's alarm rang through the morning air.

He slowly woke up, shut off his alarm and checked the time 7:00 am… 7:00 AM!

"Why'd I set my alarm for seven?" he wailed while sprinting over to his calendar.

Frantically searching for the date he quickly calmed himself down, realizing his error. The date was July 2nd and in big letters under the date was the words 'Genin Exam!' and as quickly as he calmed down he became excited, on a whole new level and now dancing around his apartment.

He bound from one wall to another, slowly picking up clothes and getting dressed at the same time. Once he was calm, again, he began to stack the books and scrolls he had borrowed from the academy's library on his dining table, carefully going through the list of books he had.

_Clone jutsu for beginners, what is substitution, general duties for Genin…_ "Ah, ha!" he cried "Make out paradise isn't in on the list!."

"Then how'd it get here?" he wondered. Placing the book aside, he noticed that there was a book missing from the list, basic shinobi tactics.

He trotted over to his bedside table in search of the book. "Here we are, basic shinobi tactics."

Kenji had spent most of the previous day reading the book; it was written by a leaf shinobi and was full of really basic things like 'don't let your opponent get behind you' and 'teamwork within a group is key to success.'

All these things Kenji knew of course and he'd almost given up on it but the second half of the book was full of handy little battle strategies that really seemed simple but were almost always neglected so maybe the reminder of not letting your opponents get behind you and use teamwork really were things to read up on.

But what really made Kenji think that the book really was worth while was on the very last page. It was a signed edition and under the authors signature was a small quote. 'Those who disobey the rules are trash but those who abandon their comrades are worse then trash.'

Those words really stuck with him… Well so far they had, it's only been a day after all.

He placed the book on the top of the pile, left to quickly grab a glass of water and then he headed out the door. _I gotta return those before I go for the test _he thought_ but now some light cardio should help me get my blood and brain working. _And with that he began to stretch and then took off on a 15km jog.

As he ran, he couldn't help but notice his surroundings; he was now at the entrance of his village and on his way out. He looked towards the sky, seeing the newly risen sun behind the tree tops. Birds fluttered and began to fly.

His gaze then drifted lower and to the right. He saw the river he was so fond of during his youth. The river he was still fond of now. Across the river were a father and son. The father was teaching his son how to fish and was having some mild success.

Refocusing to what was in front of him, he continued running. Keeping his thoughts occupied by thinking of his exam today and what he'd learnt from the book he was reading. Then his mind began to wander towards the girl that had bumped into him while he was reading said book and accidentally knocking it from his grasp.

'_My name's Misato.' _That was her name. Kenji grunted, "Come on man focus!"

"You're about to have the most important test of your life and your thinking about a girl!" he remembered something else the girl, Misato, had said _'I'm a third year student.'_

That meant that she would be taking the same test as he would be.

"Aha! That's it Kenji, if you really want to see that girl again you have to pass that test!"

_If you can't stop the thoughts, redirect them _he thought to himself with a smirk across his face.

His pace had quickened, though he didn't realize it, the extra drive of adrenaline that pumped into his veins fuelling his excitement.

He sped off to his destination and began to think about the tests again.

* * *

Kenji swallowed a lump in his throat, nerves getting the better of him. The butterflies in his stomach now flying out of his mouth as their quantity kept increasing.

"Alright" he heard Seito-Sensei's voice fill the room and quickly stood at attention.

"Let's see your clone jutsu, it's the final test." Seito exhaled and inhaled again just as deeply "and if you pass this test, you'll be a Genin Kenji-kun."

The statement gave Kenji an immense feeling of happiness. "Does that mean…?" Kenji asked.

Seito smirked "yes Kenji-kun, you passed the other tests and this is the last one."

Kenji reminisced about the previous events of the day.

* * *

He returned the books and scrolls he had borrowed to the library and was immediately whisked away by Seito-sensei to complete the written portion of the exam. He was alone in a classroom with only a chuunin-sensei to monitor him.

It was probably for the best he thought as a first year student being seen taking the test the third years were doing it could very well distract them from the test.

Next he had to demonstrate his substitution skills, Seito threw a kunai towards he boy, striking him in the chest. He then disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared behind Seito.

"Very good ken-"

"Hey!" Seito was cut short mid sentence.

Kenji had substituted with a bag which belonged to a chuunin-sensei and the bag was now leaking onto the floor as a water bottle had been punctured.

"Heh, funny kid but not to smart" Seito laughed as he spoke "I mean he's marking you remember."

After the water was mopped up, Kenji was asked to display his transformation skills. Fixing his hands in the tiger seal hand sign, he began to build Chakra and shouted "transformation jutsu!" A puff of smoke surrounded him and then emerged a replica of Seito-sensei.

"Very good Kenji-kun."

'Poof' another cloud of smoke surrounded Kenji and then he emerged from the cloud.

Seito-sensei then began to write on his clip board.

* * *

Warping back to the here and now Kenji's nerves found him again.

"Kenji-kun, you've come this, you don't want to blow it now do ya?" Seito cracked a sly smirk.

"No way am I gonna mess this up!" he hollered.

_He's right though, it would be really embarrassing if I came this far and then bombed out_ he thought. _Oh why did Seito-sensei have to tell me that!_

"Alright, when your ready" Seito announced. "Make as many as you can."

With that Kenji took a deep breath, performed the hand signs and then shouted "clone jutsu."

A large puff of smoke filled the room and suddenly there were 5 Kenji's.

"Hmm very good Kenji-kun" Seito told him and then turned towards the other exam proctors.

Kenji dispelled the clones and waited patiently for them to turn their attention towards him again.

"Ok Kenji-kun" Seito spoke in a very serious voice. Kenji began to feel nervous.

He quickly began to smile "it looks like you've passed, but only barely."

Stunned for a moment, Kenji tried to take in the words Seito had just spoke, then he quickly began to beam with happiness. "Really, are you serious Seito-sensei!" he quickly ran over to hug the man. "Woo hoo; this is great, by far the greatest day of my life."

"Alright, alright, stop bouncing around for a minute" said Seito as tried to clam down the boy. "Here, your headband and certificate to say you've passed."

Kenji shook the mans hand "Thanks so such Seito sensei."

"No problem squirt, you've worked really hard, you deserve this."

The occupants of the room all began to clap and show their congratulations. They were all very impressed by and proud of the boy.

"Ok, we still have students to test, Kenji-kun" Seito spoke up "You have to come by tomorrow and then we'll assign you your three man squad."

"Got'cha Seito-sensei, you won't be disappointed that you gave me this headband I swear" Kenji then ran out the room and headed for home.

Halfway there he stopped, why was he running home? He wondered. There wasn't anyone there that could be proud of him, he just ran away from the people that were. So why was he running home?

He decided not to dwell on the thought; it was supposed to be a happy day. He got home; changed into some clothes he could exercise in and not be worried about getting the dirty or ripped, headed outside and started training.

* * *

Kenji chuckled as he sat in a large classroom, now sporting a brand new headband across his forehead. He noticed the eyes of students watching him and then heard their whispers in the background. He ignored them; focusing only on the fact that he was a Genin now.

"Hey wait a minute" he heard a girl speak behind him. He turned around to meet her gaze and then paused.

The two eyed each other in silence for a moment and simultaneously they both pointed towards each other and cried: "YOU!"

* * *

Golden sunlight flooded the room, waking the female occupant from her slumber.

Misato sat up and stared around her room, it was large but almost bare. Her family was wealthy and very well respected but she had no taste for the way the rich showed off there wealth to those of a lesser fortune.

There was a large closet at the foot of her bed, which had been an antique of another family who had to sell it as they fell onto hard times, which was full of fabulous clothing such as kimono's and other formal wear which she never wore.

A cabinet to the left of her bed was the only other piece of furniture within the room, another antique which belonged to another family who needed a 'donation' as her parents would call them.

Half asleep, she wandered around her room towards the cabinet, opened a draw and removed a black tee-shirt and then closed the draw. Opening another she removed some black shorts and again closed the door.

She changed from her pyjamas into the shirt and shorts and then made her way to her closet and removed a red jacket which bore her clans symbol on the back, an image of a cross.

'Knock, knock' she heard someone knock and then enter the room.

"Ah, Misato-sama, I see once again you have awoken before I even arrived."

She turned to see a woman clad in Katsuragi robes. She had long bronze hair tied back in a pony tail.

"Yes, the sun woke me up this morning once again Michiko-san"

"Hiroshi-sama wishes your presence in the dining room my lady" the woman spoke.

"Very well, I'll go meet with Otou-san now."

She always spoke formally with her family; lack of respect would do that. Her mother and father lived too cushy a life, at the expense of others. She was disgusted by this and had plans to take the position of head of the clan, away from her mother and father and do something about it.

Although that meant she would have to become a stronger shinobi and she would also have to win the favour of the members of the clan.

She exited her room and made her way through the hallway too the dining area.

As she entered the room she was greeted by her father "ah, Misato-Chan, good morning."

The dining room was full of lash, expensive things which almost bragged riches.

"Otou-san good morning" replied Misato as she took a seat next to her father, opposite her mother, Leiko.

"You wanted to speak with me father?" Misato asked.

"Yes but it wasn't really that important." answered her father. "I was just curious as to how you believe you'd fare with the Genin exams today."

Misato closed her eye's and said "my exams aren't important" her voice devoid of emotion.

"No, no that's not what I meant Misato-Chan" said Hiroshi nervously "I… Uh… I meant…"

"It's okay father, I understand what you meant 'Misato paused' I believe I will pass these exams."

"Excellent" her father exclaimed looking rather proud.

Her mother chimed into the conversation "It's not like it matters though, you don't have to become a shinobi Misato-Chan 'Leiko spoke with a tone of superiority' you'll be well cared for here for the rest of you life."

"Becoming a shinobi is a right of passage for this clan Leiko" Misato's tone was clearly agitated. "Just because you've left behind the shinobi way and taken up the life of a spoilt child does not mean I have to disgrace myself as well."

"Why yo…" her mother started but was cut off by Hiroshi mid-sentence.

"Misato-san do not speak to your mother like that" he demanded.

Misato rose to her feet "I'd best be off, I don't want to be late for my exams" she said simply and walked away.

"You come back here right now young lady" her father roared but she just closed the door, put on her boots and made her way out of the house towards the academy.

She was almost halfway there when she heard someone shouting here name from behind her "Misato-san!"

She turned around to see her childhood friend Atsuko.

Atsuko had brown skin and is a bit taller then Misato. She wore a dull yellow sleeveless shirt, dark blue pants and a dark blue scarf around her neck. She had blue eyes, was a brunette and wore her hair in two large buns.

"You're up early Atsuko-san" she stated.

"Yeah well I was excited for the exams so I decided to be at the academy earlier then I had to, so I wouldn't be late."

"But the academy doesn't even open for another half-hour" pointed out the young Katsuragi.

"Yeah so now I won't be late" Atsuko cheekily replied.

"Yeah well we can study together before the test then"

"Aw, study" Atsuko complained. "Come one Misato."

"No complaints now come on lets go to the academy."

Atsuko left out a reluctant sign but "Hahn" then quickly followed Misato who had already began to walk towards the academy.

"You know you gotta lighten up and have some fun once and a while Misato."

"We'll hang out after the tests today Atsuko-san I promise" the young girl insisted. "Until then, we study."

"Okay Misato but remember you promised" Atsuko said, finally giving in to her friend.

"Yeah, yeah I know… I don't exactly want to go home anytime soon anyway."

Atsuko noticed that Misato was frowning as she spoke but didn't push the subject _'best to let this slide for now'_ the young brunette thought."

* * *

Misato stood confident as she awaited the exam proctors to finish grading her previous tests.

She breezed through the written test only using 35 minutes of the allowed 2 hours, actually managing to take a nap while waiting for the time to run out.

Next was the substitution jutsu and when Seito-sensei through the kunai towards her it pierced though a log from outside.

He then tested transformation; Misato transformed into a replica of Seito and aced the transformation technique.

"Okay, sorry for the wait Misato-san" said Seito turning his attention to the young girl. "When you're ready you can perform the clone jutsu, make as many clones as you can."

"Hn" was the girl's only reply as she went on to perform the hand seals for the jutsu and easily created ten clones of herself.

"Very good" Seito then turned his attention back to the other proctors and then almost instantly he returned his attention to Misato.

"Congratulations Misato-san, you pass."

Misato closed her eyes and cracked a slight smile and said "You expected anything less?" She then turned and left the room without another word.

* * *

Misato laughed at the words of her friend Atsuko, she was fawning over the academy's heart throb of the year, Kobayashi Matsu.

Matsu had blue eyes, very long blond hair put into a half ponytail with bangs over his left eye and wore a blue robe with grey pants and an eye patch over his left eye.

She always wondered why he wore the eye patch, she had asked him about on one occasion but he never really answered her.

"Oh, he's so dreamy!" Atsuko remarked about the young man.

"So you've told me" snicked Misato.

She had to agree with her though, she herself sometimes caught herself staring at him and thinking lustful thoughts. _'Hormones' _was her excuse for these instances.

"So you never told me Atsuko-san, did you pass the exams?"

"Yeah, it was pretty easy but that's generally because of you and your 'tutoring' sessions Misato-Chan."

Misato had been using Atsuko as a training partner to help prepare her for being a Genin and Atsuko began to call them tutoring sessions as a joke. In return she promised her friend that she'd teach her the fireball jutsu.

"Please Atsuko-san, it's all just incredibly basic stuff" Misato rationalized. "I'm sure you would have thought it easy even without the 'tutoring' sessions."

"Yeah maybe, hey you want to go practice the fireball jutsu for a while?"

"Sure why not, I'm not exactly looking forward to going home anytime soon."

The two 'shinobi' then made there way over too the training fields, after Atsuko gave Misato a worried look.

* * *

The sun gleamed in through the window once again waking Misato from her sleep.

She immediately got changed from her pyjamas into her training gear, now sporting a Kusa headband on her forehead and then left the house. She was in no mood this morning to speak with her family, they were on rocky ground after her little spat the day before.

She opted to buy breakfast from a small bakery that opened early instead of make her own. The store was owned by two cheerful old times that in there youth were once shinobi of the leaf village but after a tragedy of some sort had fled to Kusa.

After eating some small buns she had bought she headed down to the training grounds for some early morning training.

She stood next to a river bordering the training grounds, took stance and performed the hand signs for the fireball jutsu. 'Horse – Tiger.'

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" she cried and then inhaled deeply. She than spat out a large fireball that engulfed a large portion of the river, causing steam to rise.

Pleased with herself, she began to perform the jutsu again, each time the fireball becoming larger and hotter.

* * *

Misato entered the classroom of the academy, she had gone overtime with her training this morning and classes were already supposed to have begun but she found that the teachers had yet to arrive.

'_Probably dealing with some of the new Jounin sensei' _she thought and then turned her attention to see who had passed the exams. It looks as though a lot of the students had passed the exams.

She paced through the room, looking at all the new Genin.

_Let's see… Atsuko and Nariko are fighting over who sits next to Matsu as usual, so they've passed…Kana and Yuji are hanging out down the front of the class room, so they've passed as well… Ryu's picking a fight again, god how'd he pass… and there's that kid I accidentally bumped into the other day…_

Something about that last sentence didn't quite fit right with her.

"Hey wait a minute!" she cried and the boy turned around.

The two eyed each other in silence for a moment and simultaneously they both pointed towards each other and cried: "YOU!"

* * *

Yuji wiped the sweat off his forehead as he continued to grind the edges of a giant sword. It was taking

It was late and he had been working on the giant clever for hours now. The annealing process took longer then he had wanted it to, taking more then 27 hours to get to the point where he was comfortable to keep working with it.

His eyes were burning with fatigue and his hair was drenched in sweat. He had dark grey eyes and black hair that hung near his cheeks to frame his face and a long ponytail in the back of his hair.

He wore a large apron and black boots to protect him from sparks and heat from the furnace.

After a quick, but artistic, engravement he then began the hardening process. Heating the blade in his forge and then placing it in a quenching tank.

After a quick examination of the blade Yuji began the tempering process. Heating the blade at a lower temperature now and then quenching the blade. He repeated this over and over again until he was satisfied that the blade was strong enough.

He placed the sword on his work bench and then collapsed. The sword was incredibly heavy and he had to direct chakra to his arms just to lift it.

"God that's heavy but at least I can call it training" he joked to himself.

Standing up, he went over to a desk in the corner of the room and began to look over some sketches for some designs for the pommel, hilt and guard. Trying to figure out which would be best for the design while still managing to suit the shoulder and fit the tang of the massive blade.

He selected a few that would suit the design and put them to the side deciding that he should ask Kana which of the few he would prefer, after all this sword was for him after all.

After leaving his smithy, his basement he'd converted into a smithy with the help of his parents, he entered his bedroom and checked his bedside clock. 5:45 am.

_Kana should be here soon, I should probably get some sleep even if it is just 20 minutes_ he thought to himself as he fell onto his bed and immediately fell asleep.

'_Knock, knock_' it felt as if he only just fell asleep and already someone was knocking on his door. _Maybe they'll just go away if I just ignore them_ his half-asleep mind rationed. '_Knock, Knock_' the sound was once again heard and once again he didn't move.

The sound wasn't heard again, _good there gone back to sl- 'Thud.' _He was stopped mid thought as something slammed into him and knocked him off his bed.

"Time to wake up Yuji" a familiar but rude voice spoke.

Yuji looked towards the individual responsible for shoving him off his bed.

"Dammit Kana, I just fell asleep!" Yuji barked at his friend.

Kana wore bandages like a mask covering his nose, mouth and ears, a black sleeveless shirt and blue pinstriped pants. He also has short black hair and brown eyes.

"Really? What were you doing up so late?" he asked.

"It's a surprise Kana my dear old friend" replied Yuji as he glanced at the clock again. 6:32 am. _Well at least its longer then 20 minutes… Still sucks though._

"Surprise" Kana raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Yep and you'll only find out what it is if you pass the exams today. And I worked really hard on this so you better pass the damn thing!"

"Oh so you made me something huh? In that little forge of yours"

"It's not little!" snapped Yuji.

"Yeah okay, okay I'm sorry and don't worry I'll pass these little Genin exams Yuji, no contest."

"Well that's good; my work won't be for nothing then."

"I'm more worried about you Yuji" Kana said "I mean if you didn't get enough sleep you just might bomb out of these exams."

"Don't worry about me, give me a good breakfast and I'm ready to go" Yuji held up a fist as he spoke.

"Speaking of which…" Kana trailed off.

"Right lets go."

"To the bakery!" shouted Kana as he sped off down the hallway.

"Wait up, I still need to get changed" Yuji was still wearing his blacksmith's apron and boots; he hadn't been bothered to change before falling asleep. He walked towards his closet and picked out some clothes for him to wear.

He removed the apron and boots and put on a black shirt and black pants. Making his way quickly out of the room to catch up to his friend, Yuji found his friend at the front door, adjusting his knee-high boots.

Yuji slide on his sandals and then the two made there way out of the house and towards a bakery owned by two old timers who came from the leaf village.

* * *

When they arrived they were greeted by an old lady "Hey you two, back again eh?"

"Yes obaa-san" the two young boys replied in unison.

As Kana began ordering for them Yuji noticed a girl wearing a red jacket. "Who's that" he asked no one in particular.

Kana answered "You don't know? That's Katsuragi Misato; she's like the most popular girl in our school man. Everyone wants a piece of her."

"Never seen her before" said Yuji dopily. He was met with a fist to the back of his head for the statement"Oww!"

"How can you not know about her?" Kana demanded "She's been in our class for three years!"

"I never paid attention I guess" Yuji was staring at Misato again; he noticed that a girl wearing yellow had joined her now. "I know who Atsuko is if that's any consolation."

"Yeah I guess she's cute but still, you know you really should pay more attention to people Yuji. I mean you are going to be a ninja after all" said Kana as he handed Yuji a bun.

"Yeah I guess" Yuji said as he took a bite of his bun. "Oh well lets get down to the academy now, they'll be opening in an hour so I might as well get some sleep before we go in."

"Yeah, alright then."

* * *

Yuji yawned as he stood waiting for the examine proctors to turn their attention to him for his next exam.

He had already completed his written exam, in 30 minutes, following Misato's example and taking a nap while waiting for the next exam.

He then performed the substitution jutsu, substituting with a log provided by the proctors. When they asked him to perform the transformation jutsu he transformed into a replica of Seito-sensei.

"Okay Yuji-san when you're ready you can perform the clone jutsu" Said Seito.

"Yes sir, Seito-Sensei" replied Yuji and he yawned again as he made the hand seals for the jutsu.

"Clone jutsu" shouted Yuji and suddenly there were 10 Yuji's in the room.

"Very good Yuji-san, you can dispel the jutsu now."

Once again Yuji yawned and the clones all disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He was way too tired now and exhausted too. After using almost all his chakra the night before and then having to use more of it during the tests, he was just glad that he was able to have the nap before the academy opened and then again after the written exam.

He wasn't sure if he could have performed the jutsu if he didn't get that much needed rest.

"Good work Yuji, it looks like you've passed these Genin exams" Seito informed the young man.

Yuji bowed his head "thank you Seito-sensei."

"Now go home and get some sleep, you look like a zombie."

"Yes, thank you again Seito-sensei. I will."

"What were you doing last night? I mean you know you had an exam on right?" Seito asked. "You should have gotten sleep the night before such an important exam."

"Sorry sensei, I was planning to but unfortunately a project of mine went a lot longer then I thought it would have" answered Yuji.

"Project?" Seito cocked his to the side inquisitively.

"I was forging a sword as a gift for someone and unfortunately the annealing process took longer then I expected and if I didn't get to it at the right time it would have been useless to work with."

Seito, having now knowledge of forging weapons, was stumped. He didn't know what the devil Yuji was talking about and didn't even know that he knew how to forge swords.

"Right, well I won't keep you any longer 'Seito handed Yuji a sheet of paper' see you tomorrow Yuji-san."

Yuji examined the paper; it was to inform him that the teams would be announced the next day in room 34. He quickly pocketed the piece of paper.

"Yes see you tomorrow Seito-sensei" he bowed his head and then left the room.

As soon as he exited the room he was met with Kana's fist to the back of the head, this time for no other reason then being him.

"Oww, what was that for?" demanded Yuji.

A shrug was the only reply he got from the youth.

"So did you pass Naka?" asked Kana.

"Yeah, did you?" he asked in return.

"Hells yeah I passed, now time for that surprise you promised me."

"Actually…" Yuji began. "Can we put that off until tomorrow morning, I'm pretty exhausted after today."

"What do you mean? The tests weren't that draining."

"The tests weren't but the surprise was, you'll find out tomorrow why but I really just want to go home and go to bed."

"Well… Ok but I just want you to know that you're torturing me with this, you know" Kana reluctantly agreed.

"Thanks man, appreciate it."

No problem I mean hey you're the one giving me the present, you know."

The two of them then began the 'long' walk home and said their goodbyes at Yuji's front door.

Yuji kicked off his sandals and quickly made his way up the stairs and to his bedroom, flopped onto the bed and began dreaming.

* * *

The next day he woke up early and went down to his to double check that his work was not hampered by his fatigued state. A quick examination of the blade and he was satisfied that it was not the case and that the blade was definitely up to scratch.

He took out a tape measure and began taking measurements in preparation for making the hilt, guard and pommel.

From tip to shoulder the blade was 173 cm, edge to back was 52 cm, the tang was 45 cm long and 20 cm wide. The blade was 2.5 inches thick and the fuller was inclined 1.5 inches.

Making estimation on how long the blade after the pommel was added he surmised it's would be between 225 cm and 235 cm.

He weighed the blade at a set of scales he kept to the left of the room: 125 kg.

"Wow I'm surprised I held it up as long as I did" Yuji spoke aloud to himself.

"Help what up as long as you did?" a familiar voice asked.

"Your surprise Kana!" said Yuji in a tone so cheerful puppies and kittens almost rained from the sky as he directed Kana towards the blade, which was now resting back on the bench.

"Whoa! Yuji this is incredible!" exclaimed Kana.

"Thanks, it's always nice to hear good praise about my work."

Kana tried to lift the blade but quickly realized the weight of the blade. "Whoa seriously Yuji, this is heavy."

"Yeah I was pretty much drained of chakra after lifting it for as long as I did."

"I can see why' Kana focused chakra to his arms and lifted the blade easily but still hindered' now I understand why you were so worn out yesterday."

"How long did you have to have to hold it?" asked Kana. "Two, three hours?"

"Try seven hours" corrected Yuji.

"Seven hours! Man that's hectic, how'd you even manage to move yesterday?"

"Very difficultly, granted It would have only taken me 5 hours but it was just so heavy that I kept making mistakes and had to fix 'em up" said Yuji. "All in all though I think I did a fairly good job though."

"Yeah it's top notch man, but the things way to heavy and its bigger then me. How am I supposed to use it?"

"Well I am gonna carve a semi circle out towards the top in an attempt to cut down the weight about 40-50 pounds hopefully and you could always use a transformation jutsu to compensate for the fact your not tall enough to use it yet" Yuji explained.

"Yeah but how am I supposed to carry it around?" Kana contested.

"I've learnt a sealing jutsu that I can teach you to use that should be ok to use" Yuji reverberated. "I've sealed smaller blades using it and also I sealed the iron I used to make the blade using it so it should be sufficient."

"Yeah so it should be cool, man you're so awesome making this for me."

"Yeah well come over here it's not finished yet, here looks over these designs for me and pick out the ones you like."

"What are they" Kana asked.

"These ones are designs for the hilt, these ones are designs for the guard and these ones are designs for the pommel" Yuji explained. "Pick the ones out you like and I'll add them to the sword."

Kana was really eager to choose and quickly picked out the designs for the guard and the pommel but had trouble deciding on the hilt.

"I like the guard and the pommel I picked out but I don't like any of the hilt designs you have… No offence."

"That's ok; I'm not exactly good at designing the handle, if you want I know someone who can show you some more designs."

"Actually…" Kana began "Can I draw a diagram of what I'd like? I sort of already have something in mind."

"Sure I guess but I'm not sure I'd be able to make it for you so we're going to have to go to a pro to get it done if it's too intricate."

"Cool, thanks. Man I already have it all planned out" Kana beamed and Yuji could see the large smile behind his mask.

"Well come on, we gotta be at the academy in thirty minutes so we can be divided into our teams" Yuji pointed out. "You can draw up the designs while we're there."

Yuji reached into his desk pulled out a few sheets of paper and some pencils and gave them to Kana.

"Alright let's go!" Kana shouted and then sped off out the door.

"God Kana, would it kill you to wait up" said Yuji as he walked up the stairs and out of the house.

* * *

Yuji yawned in his seat at the academy as he waiting for Seito-sensei to show up.

"Man Yuji, you still tired?" asked Kana.

"Yeah, I must still be a little chakra depleted" Yuji answered.

Kana was too engulfed in his work to hear Yuji's reply. _Man I've never seen him concentrating so hard before _he thought to himself.

"Finished!" shouted Kana, pleased with his work.

"Let me see."

"Sure" said Kana as he handed over the sketch to Yuji.

The sketch was incredibly detailed; Yuji was actually shocked to see his friend had such incredible artistic talent. The design of the hilt was a pattern of vines flowing up the grip in a way that allowed the fingers better traction and had blooming flowers along the vine for some extra decoration.

"Looks good, I'm surprised you drew it" teased Yuji.

"Yeah, yeah whatever' Kana pouted 'so will your guy be able to make it or what?"

"Yeah, 'she' should be able to make it just fine" Yuji said.

"Brilliant!" exclaimed Kana. "You know I've even the sword a name."

"Really? What?"

"The Blade of Wisteria!" Kana radiated with pride as he spoke.

"Nice" complimented Yuji.

"Yeah, I know isn't it"

"Yeah now if you don't mind, I'm having a nap while we wait for Seito-sensei to get here."

"Whatever."

Yuji closed his eyes and began to nod off. He was stirred before he could fully nod off though, as he heard two voices scream in unison "You!"

"Ah, so noisy" Yuji complained.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

Sorry this post was a bit late but this was a longer chapter and I was suffering from a severe case of writers block when it came to writing about Misato and Yuji.

I feel as though I didn't really elaborate enough about Misato but I think I pulled off Yuji rather well. Review.


	5. Chapter 5: Kaida Sensei

Chapter 5

Ah more writers block!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto, this is fan fiction.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Misato demanded "I thought you were a first year? This is a class for Genin not snot nosed little kids."

_Wow I thought you were nicer _the thought lingered in the back of Kenji's head "Oh yeah you probably didn't know huh? I took the exams yesterday as well and… Well I guess it's pretty obvious I passed"

Kenji indicated the headband he was sporting on his forehead.

"Why did you get to take the exams?" asked Misato in a confused manner. "What were there not enough students to fill the teams or somethin – oh!"

Misato began counting heads in the classroom "One, two, three… twenty-eight, Ah-ha!"

"What?" asked Kenji confused at the girls behaviour.

"Including me… there are twenty-nine third year students who passed to be a Genin." She continued "we had a student drop out last month so…"

Misato trailed off leaving a confused Kenji to wait for an answer that never came.

"…What?"

"Including you that makes thirty' she placed her hands at the back of her head 'teams are made up of three people and three times ten equals thirty" Misato spoke with a sense of superiority looming in her voice. "So…" once again trailing off.

"So what?" asked Kenji annoyed that Misato never really gave him an answer even though this was the third time he was asking.

"You were only allowed to take the test in the hopes of filling up the numbers" Misato bluntly finished.

Kenji was shocked at this statement. _Was I really just allowed to take the exams in the hope that it would fill up the numbers _he thought to himself.

"Although…" Misato began. "You must have some talent to be considered over the second year students."

Kenji paused at her words. Yes it was true, he was considered over the second year students. The realisation really pumped him up. He was so ready to start training with his new team.

"I wonder who I'm gonna be teamed with?" Kenji thought aloud.

"Yeah I've been wondering that myself" Misato replied ignoring the fact Kenji had completely forgotten their previous conversational topic. "I hope I don't get stuck with some losers who'll hold me back."

"Well if I get teamed with you, I'll try my best not to" assured Kenji with a smile on his face.

"Thanks kid but what's the chance we'll get teamed together, one in twenty-nine" Misato pointed out. "It's unlikely."

"Unlikely but not completely impossible."

"True enough kid" Misato smiled as she spoke. She was beginning to like the kid but still he was only a first year student and he would definitely hold her back if they were teamed together. _He must only know the basic Ninjutsu _she thought to herself now completely sure that she did not want to be teamed with him.

Mean while Kenji was becoming entwined with Misato. He had heard she was talented and was beautiful to top it off. _If I got to be teamed with her I'd get real good, real quick _he mused to himself. He was desperately hoping he would be on her team.

"Alright children, take your seats" he heard Seito-sensei speak as he entered the room.

"Sorry I'm late but there was some final paperwork in regards to the teams and their Jonin-sensei's that took longer than expected to complete."

Kenji could tell that what Seito-sensei really wanted to say was "The paper work should have been over with but their were some 'complications' with the Jonin" and a quick look to the left at Misato, who had taken the seat next to his, told him that she had figured it out as well.

"Anyway…" Seito continued "I will now announce the squad listings and please take note that these squads are non-negotiable. There are times in your ninja career when you may be teamed with someone you don't like so you'll have to learn to deal with it."

Seito paused, took a deep breath and then began to read the listings.

"Squad 1: Minamoto Kenji."

Kenji shuddered at the sound of his name. "Hey that's you isn't it kid" asked Misato "You're off to a quick start."

Kenji nodded and then turned his attention back towards Seito who continued reading.

"Naka Yuji" Seito continued.

"Hey dude they just called your name" he seen a boy in the front row nudge his friend who was sleeping.

"And Katsuragi Misato" Seito finalized.

Kenji's heart stopped at the name and another quick look at the girl next to him told him that hers stopped as well, although he suspected that it was for a different reason. He also took note that most of the room's male population, and even some of the female, groaned at the fact that they would not be paired with her.

"Squad 2" Seito began but was suddenly cut off by Misato's screaming.

"Hey no fair, why do I have to be paired with the first year!" she complained as she stood up.

"Wow that's not insulting" Kenji muttered under his breathe.

Seito exhaled "What did I just say, no complaining about the team mates you've been assigned."

"Well then could you at least explain the reasoning behind the selection?" asked Misato. "It'll at least help me grasp the selection process and why I was teamed with him."

"Yep definitely not insulting" Kenji once again muttered. Misato was making a spectacle of herself and it was embarrassing to say the least.

Seito rubbed the bridge of his nose "alright if you insist." He walked over to his chair, took a seat and began to explain the selection process.

"In order to make an effective team their needs to be a degree of balance within the group, for instance, if there are weapons specialists within the graduating class, we would group them with other weapons specialists or Taijutsu specialists. We would pair tracking specialists with other tracking specialists and etcetera, etcetera."

"As for your group Katsuragi-san" he continued "We've paired the graduating student with the highest scores, you, with the student with the lowest scores, Kenji-kun."

_Oh wow, just tell everyone I have the lowest scores why don't ya_ Kenji pout.

"Alright" Misato submitted to Seito's reasoning and took her seat once again.

"Ok, now as I was saying. Squad 2:"

"Oh sorry" apologised Misato as she realised that her little stunt must have been embarrassing for Kenji.

"Don't worry about it" said Kenji, shrugging it off. "Is it really that bad being on my team though?" asked Kenji in a light hearted nature.

"Too soon to know I guess, hmm"

"Right well no harm done; lets listen to hear who else gets teamed up" insisted Kenji in an attempt to change the topic of conversation.

"Right, I should probably see what team Atsuko gets put in."

"Who's Atsuko?" asked Kenji.

"A friend of mine, she over there fawning over Matsu, she's the one clinging to his left arm" said Misato pointing over her shoulder towards the back of the room.

Kenji looked over to see a boy surrounded by girls, eyeballing the brunette clad in a yellow t-shirt. "Lucky guy" he exclaimed a bit envious.

"Yeah I guess he is" agreed Misato.

After a while Seito sensei announced Atsuko's team listing. "Squad 5: Desdemona Atsuko."

"Hey that's her" announced Kenji

"Kobayashi Matsu"

"Lucky day for her" Kenji then joked and was rewarded with a chuckle from Misato.

"And Yamasaki Nariko" Seito finished.

"Ah maybe not so lucky" Misato frowned.

"Why do you say that?" asked Kenji. He thought that Atsuko being on the same team as Matsu would be a dream come true regardless of whom the third member would be.

"That's Nariko clinging to Matsu's right arm" said Misato as she pointed to the girl that had black hair with red streaks tied up in buns in the same manner as Atsuko, and who was now arguing with the girl opposite her with Matsu trying to referee of sorts.

She wore a black t-shirt, fingerless gloves that went to her elbows, blue jeans held by a belt covered in metal studs and accessorised with a heart belt buckle.

"Their love rivals of sorts" Misato explained.

"Ah" was Kenji's only reply as he slumped down on the desk in front of him and reasserted his attention towards Seito.

"Squad 7: Kato Kana"

Seito was once again interrupted by a student as a boy in the front row rose from his seat and screamed "That's me, that's me!"

Rubbing the bridge of his nose again Seito again continued "Ogawa Kioko and Imai Ryu."

Kenji heard a boy groan from the back of the room which was met with an evil eye from Kana down the front. _Another unwanted match up _he mused to himself not wanting to turn around to see who it was who was unpleased, as it would involve effort and he had become quite comfortable.

"You want to make something of it" he heard the boy; he assumed was Ryu, behind him shouting.

"Maybe I do" Kana barked right back.

"Alright take your seat Kato-san, their will be no fighting in my class" intervened Seito before anything could happen. Kana kept his gaze and reluctantly sat back down and faced the front.

"Right now no more interruptions."

Seito continued to read the squad listings but Kenji had grown tired of listening to them at this point. He had no idea who the people being called out were anyway. Instead he began to think about training with his team. What were the others strengths? Weaknesses? Who was going to be their sensei? He couldn't wait.

His thoughts then wandered to the girl sitting next to him. She seemed so strong somehow, like it was radiating from her. It was almost intimidating. He had to admit, he was beginning to grow quite fond of her but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to let her out class him. After all, it's not like he's been training so hard for nothing. To let her one up him would just be a violation of everything he stood for.

_What did they call that again? Ah, that's right… Nindo._

"Okay that's it for the squad announcements. Your Jonin sensei will come get you after a brief recess" Seito explained. "We urge you to use this recess to get to know your new team mates if you do not already know them. You are to be back by 11:00 am. Dismissed."

Seito exited the room and the students all began to go about their own business. Some students left the room, others stayed. Only a few sought out their team mates while most just used the opportunity to grab something to eat.

"So who's Naka Yuji?" Kenji asked Misato.

"That's him down the front talking to the guy with the bandages around his face" she pointed to the boy who had yet to lift his head from his desk. "Hey Yuji! Get over here!" she demanded.

After a quick glance towards Misato he turned to his friend who explained that to him that they had been grouped together, while he was sleeping, and he made his way over to the two.

"Hey Misato-san, how's it going?" he asked politely.

"Yuji this is Kenji" she pointed to the young man to her right before changing direction, pointing to the boy on her left and saying "Kenji this is Yuji. I'll let you two get acquainted." She stood up out of her seat and then left the two boys to stare after her, confused.

"Well she's a ray of sunshine, isn't she?" Yuji joked. "So you're Kenji huh? Nice to meet you" said Yuji offering his hand.

"Yeah nice to meet you too, Yuji-Senpai" taking Yuji's hand and shaking.

"Senpai? Oh yeah that's right Kana said that you were a first year. You must be pretty talented to be allowed to take the Genin exams so soon Kenji-kohai."

"No not really, I've just been training longer then them. I've been taking karate lessons since I was four so I had a head start on the other students" Kenji explained.

"Yeah well still, talent is talent. You're just splitting hairs, don't sell yourself short" persisted Yuji causing Kenji to blush a little.

Yuji took the seat next to Kenji where Misato was sitting and got comfortable. "So I'm assuming that you're a Taijutsu specialist of sorts Kenji-kohai, judging by your karate background."

"Yeah I guess. What type of ninja are you?" he asked.

"Well I'm more of a strategist if anything" scratching his head and sweat dripping. "I'm not exactly great at anything in particular although I do know some Genjutsu basics."

"That's pretty cool, Genjutsu isn't really my thing."

"Yeah it's a pretty weird type of jutsu actually."

"What is?" asked Misato coming back in the room and taking the seat to the left of Kenji. She had ran into Ryu on her way out of the room and decided it would be best to just hang around with the two then to put up with his antiques.

"We were talking about Genjutsu" answered Kenji.

"Genjutsu, huh? Yeah that's pretty a weird type of jutsu. You get a handle on it yet Kenji?" she asked.

"No" Kenji sulked. "I know what Genjutsu is but I don't know much else."

"You care to explain it to the lad Misato-san or do I get the privilege?" asked Yuji with a smile on his face.

"I might as well explain it to the kid" Misato assured. "Genjutsu is fairly similar to Ninjutsu; it uses hand signs and chakra. However the difference between the two is that Genjutsu is illusionary, instead of attacking the body, Genjutsu uses Chakra to affect the brain of an opponent, causing a disrupting in their senses."

"In other words" Yuji cut in, hoping to further elaborate. "A shinobi extends their chakra flow through the cerebral nervous system of their opponent to control their mind's chakra."

"Sounds like its pretty effective" said Kenji in awe that his team mates were so smart.

"Yeah it is but the problem is that you generally need to be intelligent in order to perform or detect it" Misato explained. "Only a few students here would even be capable of performing it so that's why it's not a requirement for being a Genin."

"They teach you the bare minimum and then move on" Yuji agreed.

"Oh makes sense I guess, I mean it's sort of impossible to teach disinterested kids how to use it" Kenji supposed.

'_Ding' _the group was interrupted by the school bell and the Seito-sensei returning to the room.

"We all here?" asked Seito rhetorically. "Good, Your sensei will come get you one by one shortly." When he finished speaking he took a seat at his desk and then busied himself with paper work.

After a few seconds the first Jonin came in to collect their new Genin. "Squad 4 with me" he ordered and three students left their seat and followed there new Sensei. After another few moments another Jonin came through the door "Squad 8 fall in" he barked and as soon as the students left their seats another entered "Squad 5 follow me" spoke the Jonin who left the room immediately after speaking.

"See ya later Atsuko-san" called Misato as the dark girl quickly left her seat to catch up with her sensei.

"Bye Misato-Chan" she replied waving to her friend as she left the room.

"Squad 2!" called another Jounin as she entered the room. "What you're my team?" said the Jonin as three Genin lined up in front of her, earning an evil eye from the taller male.

"I wonder when we're gonna be called?" Kenji asked to no one in particular.

"I wonder who our sensei is going to be" Yuji answered with a smile on his face.

"Alright which three of you lucky kids make up Squad 7?" asked a Jounin as he flamboyantly entered the room, instantly causing Yuji, Misato and Kenji to triple sweat drop.

The Jonin had wild purple hair and eyes wore full black with gold trimming with the shirt being sleeveless. He also wore black arm warmers fixed in place with a white band. Kenji couldn't help but marvel at how young the Jounin looked before his line of thought was cut off.

"That's me! That's me! I'm in squad seven!" screamed a boy down the front of the class jumping over the desk to stand in front of his new sensei.

Kenji heard a boy groan as he also made his way down to the front of the room. He had short black hair, green eyes and wore black pants, a jacket with the kanji for dragon style and Imai on the left sleeve, forego a shirt and let a red band of fabric hang from his neck in a similar fashion to a tie. Kenji assumed that the boys name was Ryu, remembering the altercation from earlier.

Ryu was followed by a girl with long pink hair with matching eyes. She wore a tight fitting black sleeveless t-shirt, fingerless gloves, white jeans and black boots. Kenji's initial deduction… GAWGEOUS! Although upon further inspection he found that she held no facial expression. Even as she stood with her team, she showed no emotion.

"Catch ya round Yuji!" called Kana as he began to leave with his team.

"See you later!" Yuji shouted back.

"Hn, that's interesting" stated Misato.

"What is?" asked Kenji and Yuji in unison with each other.

"Ogawa being grouped with Imai and Kato" Misato corroborated "Kato and Imai seem to be the most emotion driven people in our whole year. Kato is energetic and happy while Imai is aggressive and angry. Ogawa on the other hand would have to be the least animated individual of our year. I've never seen her express any kind of emotion."

"That is interesting I guess" agreed Yuji "although if I know Kana she won't stay emotionless for very long. He has a habit of getting under peoples skin, for better or for worse well…" Yuji trailed off.

As Kenji was about to speak another Jonin entered the room. "Squad 1, please make your way to the front of the room."

"That's us" said Yuji as he, Kenji and Misato stood up and made their way to the front of the room and unconsciously lined up in front of her.

"Alright follow me" the Jonin said after a quick inspection and began to lead the three out of the room.

"Here we go" said Kenji under his breathe as he followed his new team mates and sensei out of the room. He smirked; it was finally time for him to become a ninja and somehow he felt as if it was… Right.

* * *

Kaida looked over her squads individual report cards one more time before heading out and meeting them for the first time. She flipped open Yuji's file and checked his results from the Genin exams. One-hundred percent for the written exam, seventy-five for the substitution jutsu, ninety-eight for the transformation jutsu and ninety percent for the clone jutsu. All in all it told her that he was a decent shinobi with good chakra control but a 'textbook' shinobi in the literal sense.

She then took out Kenji's results, fifty-six percent for the written test. _Passed by one percent kid, lucky _she thought to herself. One-hundred percent for the substitution jutsu with commendations for choosing to substitute with Ai's bag… She wasn't sure what exactly happened but was proud of the kid all the same. Eighty-three percent for the transformation jutsu and fifty percent for the clone jutsu.

"God this is one lucky kid" she spoke aloud to herself. The cut off for the transformation jutsu was seventy-five percent and fifty percent was the cut off for clone jutsu so Kenji had literally only just passed. "I'm gonna have to spend some extra time with the kid, how troublesome."

She then flipped out Misato's file and looked at her report card. One-hundred percent for the written exam, one-hundred percent for the substitution jutsu, one-hundred percent for the transformation jutsu and one-hundred percent for the clone jutsu. Again this told Kaida one thing. Misato had the highest grades of all the students who took the exam.

Kaida was looking forward to seeing how good the young kunoichi really was. Exams were one thing but they were only being tested on the complete basics of Ninjutsu. Tomorrow would be a real testament to her skills. Kaida was smiling at the thought of what would happen the next day. She really couldn't wait but first she needed to meet the kids who would be her play things.

She reached the class room, took a deep breath, exhaled then entered and asked "Squad 1, please make your way to the front of the room."

"That's us" she heard one of the boys say as a group of three students walked over and lined up in front of her.

"Alright follow me" she commanded as she lead them out the room and down the hall way.

"Ah, sensei" she heard the older boy she assumed was Yuji speak up. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"When I first became a Genin my sensei took me out to the ninth training field, where no one was around so we could get to know each other better without interruption" Kaida explained. "I guess now that I have a Genin squad of my own I'm feeling a little sentimental."

"Oh, ok that sounds cool" Yuji approved.

"Glad you think so" Kaida chuckled as she opened the door to the academy's main entrance and lead her new Genin through the streets towards the training field.

She couldn't help but muse how alike this group of Genin were to the group she was a part of when she first started out. Kenji was acting in a manner that was almost a mirror image of how Seito was acting, smile from ear to ear, skip in his step, it really spoke to his character. Yuji was also unintentionally imitating Kaemon, cool, calm and collected. A yawn from him solidified the fact.

What was really catching her interest was Misato's behaviour. _Complete lack of interest, fire burning in her eyes, clenched fists. She's an exact replica of me. _Remembering how she was before Kaemon had intervened and changed her perspective of the world, she was worried about just how alike that really were.

After reaching the field Kaida lent against a tree and gestured for her squad to take a seat on a tree that had fallen after it appeared to have been used as a boxing bag for an unusually strong individual.

After a moment of silence Kaida spoke up "alright we're going to go through a little communication exercise so we can all get to know each other a little better. How this works is you state your name, list your hobbies, likes and dislikes, dreams for the future and things like that."

"I'll go first so you know how it works" she began. "Feel free to ask questions at anytime."

"My name is Haru Kaida" she started and was surprised to see a hand raised into the air as she began to continue. "Yes?" she asked the inquisitive boy.

"Your last name is a first name?" Kenji asked.

"Yes" she relied bluntly, a little annoyed at the boys antiques at first but then she inwardly chucked as she remembered that it was the exact same question Seito asked her when she first mentioned her name.

"Cool!" Kenji then stated.

"Moving on… My hobby I supposed would be volunteering at the hospital in my free time. I like spending time in the hot springs, I dislike the cold and my dream for the future, for the time being, is to train you all to be the best shinobi as you can be."

She paused for a moment, looked towards the three Genin and then continued "Alright now your turn, you on the right lets hear it" she singled out Kenji. "And don't feel as though you have to tell us something if you don't feel comfortable telling us."

"Alright, here goes!" the overly zealous boy began. "My name is Minamoto Kenji, I like competitive fighting but I dislike fighting out of hate or anger. I also don't like it when someone beats on someone who doesn't want to fight just to make them feel good. That really pisses me off! My hobby is training, Taijutsu mainly but I work on chakra and everything as well. And my dreams for the future are…" He paused. "Well… I'm not sure exactly."

_Maybe he's not like Seito after all _Kaida thought to herself. Seito enjoyed working out and all but he never liked fighting and he also knew what his goals were by the time he was a shinobi.

"That's ok Kenji-san, a lot of people don't know what there goals are at your age, myself included" she lied. She knew what her goals were before she even entered the academy. "Now you in the middle, your turn."

"Ah, my name is Naka Yuji" he said. "My hobby is forging weapons"

"Forging weapons?" Kaida interrupted.

"Yes, my family have been blacksmiths for generations and my brother has been teaching me for the past four years now" he explained.

"Your brother, is his name Haruko?" Kaida asked.

"Ah, yeah. How'd you know?"

"I was sent on a mission with him recently. He's a fine shinobi, intelligent, brave, and loyal to a fault. I've never really met anyone quite like him."

Yuji was beaming with pride for his elder brother; Haruko was a stand out in the Chuunin exams, so much in fact that Yuji wanted to skip the Chuunin exams and go straight to being a Jonin out of fear of not being able to live up to the expectations his brother has set.

"Sorry I guess I interrupted you. Please continue" she insisted.

"Oh, right" Yuji reassembled himself and the continued the exercise. ""I like designing weapons for my friend Kana and I hate it when the weapon I'm forging doesn't live up to my expectations although I guess that's my fault' he rubbed the back of his head 'I also hate being woken up."

Kaida smirked "Hn, well we can all agree with that" she admitted.

"And my dream is the same as my brothers. To learn all I can about what tools a ninja would need and also some that they wouldn't need. To be the best weapons maker in the world to sum it up I guess."

"Right" Kaida confirmed. "Now you on the left. Misato. Your turn."

"My name is Katsuragi Misato" she spoke in a low ominous tone. "My hobby is training. I hate more things then I like and I don't feel like telling you too much about my goals but I will tell you that it involves becoming the head of my clan."

An awkward silence filled the air when she finished speaking. Kaida stole a quick glance at Yuji and Kenji who looked disheartened at her words. She decided to save them and speak up.

"Great well now that we all know each other so well, I'll explain our first mission to you."

"We're going on a mission already?" asked Kenji.

"Yes, tomorrow actually" she confirmed.

"Tomorrow!" shouted Yuji and Kenji in unison, shocked by Kaida's revelation while Misato only glanced towards her.

"Yes… Tomorrow."

"Well what kind of mission are we going on?" asked Yuji.

"We're going on a survival exercise of sorts" she bluntly answered.

"Survival?" Yuji and Kenji asked once again in unison with Misato adding "of sorts?"

"Yes. We are bending the rules a little bit but all in all it is a survival exercise."

"Why are we having a survival exercise?" Misato questioned "we've already proven our sufficiency in survival in the academy so there's no need really for us to go though more training."

Kenji and Yuji both looked towards Kaida, agreeing one-hundred percent with Misato's words and also looking for an explanation.

"Well first off you've hardly proven yourselves 'sufficient' in survival, your fresh Genin with no combat experience you've never actually been tested in survival seeing as though your lives have not been at stake."

Kaida's words washed over the three like a tidal wave, effectively wiping away all traces of smugness in their expression.

"Second, it's always good to stay sharp. Third, I haven't seen you in action so it would be a good way to weigh up your abilities and finally…" She paused as if unwilling to speak but then exhaled and relaxed a bit. Yuji and Kenji were both wide eyed in anticipation while Misato still seemed disinterested. "I guess I have to tell you" she began.

"Tell us what?" Misato asked her tone icy at this point.

"Out of the thirty students who graduated… Only nine will actually go on to become Genin. The other twenty-one will be sent back to the academy. In other words, this survival exercise is going to be a very hard test with a dropout rate of around seventy percent."

The three Genin we're all shocked, mouths gaping, eyes wide. Kaida felt a little sorry for them, she was leading them on after all. They weren't going back to the academy by the Kusakage's order. The great nation's military strength was skyrocketing. This was the only option the land of grass had in order to maintain a degree of balance.

"No way! I went through so much trouble... What were the Genin exams for anyway?" Yuji demanded an answer.

After a slight pause Kaida answered. "Those… They were just to see who might become Genin."

"What?" Kenji exclaimed.

"In any case, I'll be judging whether or not you'll become Genin tomorrow. Bring your ninja tools and meet me back here at this training ground at 8:00am." Kaida made a ram hand seal and then continued to speak. "Now then… Meeting over" and she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'_Body flicker jutsu' _Misato noted to herself as she stood up and made her way home, leaving Kenji and Yuji to their own devices once again, with no intention of returning this time.

"So what should we do?" Kenji asked Yuji.

"…I don't know" he replied. "But if we want to pass this test. It's best we stick together and team up."

"Yeah" Kenji agreed. "We should team with Misato-Chan as well; we'd be guaranteed to be Genin with her helping us."

Yuji's face grinned evilly "Misato-'Chan', huh?" he teased and was repaid with a swift punch to the stomach from Kenji. Yuji fell to the ground but continued to laugh at his friend who was now red in the checks.

* * *

Kaida reappeared fifty feet away from the Genin and then began on her way home.

"You were a little rough on them weren't you Haru-Chan" she heard a familiar voice speak up. "You know that they're going to become Genin despite your test."

"True but they don't know that" she replied turning to face the direction the voice was coming from. "They'll give it there all tomorrow under the pretence that if they should fail they'd be sent back to the academy."

"I still don't understand your motives behind this" said Seito emerging from the shadow of a tree. "Why are deceiving them like this?"

"It's the same test our sensei put us through when our squad was first formed, remember Seito-san? Besides… Deception is that art of the shinobi." Kaida's voice was bitter and staunch.

Seito was irritated by Kaida words. "So you're putting them through this test just because you're feeling nostalgic? Kenji is probably freaking out thinking that he could be sent back to the academy right now! That is completely unfair messing with him like that!"

"I am putting them through this test so I can judge their teamwork Seito-san, remember that was the point of going through this when we were Genin" stressed Kaida causing Seito to stumble in shock. "Do not let your affection for the boy cloud your judgement Seito-san and remember this… They're my students now; I'll do what I want with them."

Seito was at a complete lack of words. It was obvious that the exercise was to judge their skills and team work. _Maybe she's right, maybe my judgement was clouded _he thought to himself.

Kaida turned to leave; she had had enough of this conversation and was getting pretty pissed. "If that's all then…" She began to walk away before being stopped by Seito.

"Wait, there's a reason I came here other then to criticize you…" he appealed with a hint of desperation in his voice.

"And what is it?" she asked, turning towards him again.

"Kaemon wants to have a meeting" he whispered.

"About?"

"You'll find out later, all I'll say now is that it may involve me coming out of 'retirement'."

Kaida was intrigued. He had left active duty so he could follow his dream and teach the next generation, and now he was talking about leaving his semi-retirement and going back into active duty? _This meeting has to be about something important _she thought to herself.

"Alright then, lets go" she said as she lead him away from the training field and towards town.

"Coming" Seito called after her.

After the two left all that remained was an empty patch of forest until part of the forest began to move on its own and materialise into a person.

"So, Yasuhisa-Senpai is coming out of retirement and he and Haru-Senpai are going to a secret meeting with Kaemon, huh?" the man spoke aloud to himself. "Not plotting on taking the title of Kusakage early are you my friends?" he chuckled to himself.

The man had auburn eyes and long white hair down his face that shorted to black at the back of his head. He wore a large grey robe with baggy sleeves and white trimming covered in intricate designs of fire on top of a black pinstripe sleeveless T, black cargo pants, elbow length leather gauntlets trimmed with iron and carried a long katana with a black handle.

"I better report this to lord Kusakage, I don't want the comfort I sought out to be taken away from me prematurely now, do I?" the man was speaking aloud to himself once again while walking away.

After a few moments another figure appeared in the small clearing, a much smaller figure.

"That was Atsuko-san's new sensei" said Misato. "What was he talking about? Seito and Kaida attempting to assassinate grandfather? They wouldn't would they?"

She was on her way home when she heard Seito's shouting and went to investigate. She never dreamed that she would stumble onto a conspiracy to assassinate her grandfather. She had to find out the answers to her questions; luckily as fate would have it she was being trained by the very woman who was conspiring.

She wouldn't try spying on her sensei now considering she was having a meeting with Kaemon, a man hailed as a hero in the land of grass, renown for his abilities in all fields. She would slowly gather information from Kaida during the time they spent together, which meant she had to pass the test tomorrow as her grandfather's life may be on the line.

_Also… _She began to think to herself_ what did Atsuko's sensei mean he didn't want the comfort he sought taken away? _She had too many questions and not enough answers.

Misato started on her way home once again, pondering her course of action. _I'll have to ask Atsuko about her sensei the next time I see her _she figured. This would be a test of patience as well as a test of skill for her. She would have to use every ounce of shinobi ability she possessed to get the answers she sought after and then some but first she had to pass the survival exercise tomorrow.

_After I pass tomorrow I'll start my intelligence gathering. I'll train for a few hours this afternoon and then get some sleep, ready for tomorrow._

Now with a route to follow, she pushed all other thoughts out of her head and focused on her new objective.

**To be continued**

* * *

Well that's another chapter down. I can stop with the character introduction now and finally get into the story :P

Please review.


	6. Chapter 6: Kaida's Test Pt 1

Chapter six

Disclaimer: I do not own the right to Naruto (Do you even need this? I mean the website is for fan fiction. Also people seem to put in some funny reason as to why they don't own Naruto… I don't think I'll be doing that.)

Quick side note:

_Italic means thinking._

Thought I should add that in.

* * *

Kenji made his way towards the ninth training field with Yuji in toe. They had decided to walk together the previous day as they were getting along rather well.

Kenji ransacked Yuji with questions of Misato, which Yuji had to leave unanswered as he himself did not know, while Yuji went on and on about his exploits with his friend Kana. Of how the two would cause trouble within the academy, usually by Kana's devise and how Yuji would get them out of trouble with rather ease.

Yuji seemed so composed in Kenji's eyes, his experience, not only with Ninjutsu and the like but also with relations, filled him with awe and admiration. He truly was his senior.

Just walking with him made Kenji content, he had finally made his first friend and he was delightfully ecstatic. Although, he thought maybe he wasn't the first friend he had made. His relationship with Misato hadn't been officially agreed upon yet.

He was hoping that they were friends but he really didn't know if they were friends or mere acquaintances.

When they arrived at the field they were surprised to find that Misato had already arrived. They had been half an hour early so that they could be the first ones that arrived but it seemed that Misato had the same idea.

She was standing alone in the centre of the field, eyes closed, patiently waiting although she had a stern look on her face.

"Good morning Misato-san" Yuji greeted as he approached her.

"Good morning Misato-Chan, how are you?" Kenji asked.

"Yuji… Kenji… I'm fine thank you" she bluntly answered.

"You're here early" Yuji spoke up.

"… So are you" she argued after a moment.

"True enough" said Yuji redirecting his attention toward Kenji. "So you ready for this Kenji-Kohai my man!" Yuji clenched his fists and threw them out in front of him as he spoke.

"You Bet'cha!" shouted Kenji as he mimicked his friend, throwing his hands in front of him. "Hey Misato-Chan, you want to team up for this survival exercise?"

"What?" she asked a little bewildered by Kenji's question.

"Yuji-Senpai and I reckon that we'll have a better chance of passing if we work together."

Misato took a moment to think about it. It was true, there would be a better chance of her passing Kaida's little test and being aloud to continue being a Genin under the control of Kaida.

"Alright" she agreed causing Kenji to go starry eyed. "But that only if we are able to. We may be tested individually."

Kenji and Yuji optimism was immediately downcast by Misato's words. It was true Kaida had never really explained the details of the mission. They very well could be tested individually, a possibility Yuji and Kenji had both failed to recognise.

Swallowing a lump in his throat Kenji began to sweat a little. If he really was going to be tested on his own there was a highly probable chance of his going back to the academy.

"I guess we'll have to wait until Haru-sensei to tell us what we're doing before we can decide how we're going to approach this" Yuji spoke up breaking a moment of silence.

"Guess so…" agreed Kenji.

After another moment of silence Kenji and Yuji began making small talk once again and eventually began talking about a project Yuji had been working on lately, a large sword that weighed over one-hundred kilo grams, and how he had to figure out a way to cut some weight off of it without ruining the dexterity of the blade.

They had both tried to involve Misato in their conversation but she seemed complacent with her thoughts. Kenji was a little unsettled with her current attitude but she seemed a little unsettled with her thoughts herself so he chose not to continue with his conversational attempts.

It was almost time for the Survival exercise to start and there was another long silence in anticipation of the mission that would decide their future. Time seemed to go slowly as they waited but Kaida soon arrived.

"Good morning team 1, how are you?" she asked politely.

"As good as we can be under these circumstances" Yuji answered on behalf of the squad.

"What are the details of our mission?" Misato asked in a slightly demanding tone.

"Straight down to business, I like that" Kaida joked. "Alright I'll explain the details of the survival exercise now" she ushered the three young shinobi to come closer.

"Your mission is to find and obtain three of these tags" she explained while pulling out a piece of paper from her bra, with the kanji for pass written on it. "There are three of these hidden throughout the training area but there are also tags with the kanji for decoy written on them. They are not the tags you are looking for. If you fail to retrieve a tag you will be sent back to the academy."

"So are we allowed to work as a team?" asked Kenji.

"If you wish too you can" Kaida answered.

Yuji and Kenji's faces lit up, they were worried for nothing it seemed. Misato on the other hand seemed just as content to maintain the disinterested expression she wore since the previous day.

"What happens if someone gets more then one tag?" Misato asked in solemn tone.

"Well you can either give the tag too the other person without the tag… or you could not give it to them. Meaning someone goes without. It's a good way to get rid of someone you don't want on your team really" Kaida almost teased them as she spoke.

The three aspiring Genin looked at each other untrustingly for a moment before Kaida snapped them out of it. She set down an alarm clock, set it on the ground and then set it for noon. "If you can't get a tag before noon you fail. Understood?"

"Understood!" Kenji confirmed.

"Alright then, you're allowed to use shuriken, Kunai and the like. Now… scatter!" she ordered and the three Genin took to the trees in search of the tags. "Off to a bad start guys" she spoke aloud to herself while stuffing the tag she held back into her bra.

She took out a book, sat down on the fallen log and then began to read. "I wonder how they'll do" she thought aloud.

* * *

The three Genin flew through the tree tops quickly but quietly. Misato noted that Yuji and Kenji were slower then she would like them to be but she had decided that she would work with them to pass this little exam. After all if she passed and they didn't, she might end up in the same squad as Ryu, that player wannabe!

She also decided that she liked the two boys. Well not like, like but she didn't hate them as much as she did other people. Kenji was growing on her though, the grey haired midget wasn't to bad personality wise and she had definitely underestimated his skills.

Kenji was slow in comparison to her and Yuji, that's true enough but he had only been training as a shinobi for six months. He was actually faster then she was when she was at that level of training. She began to wonder what clan he was from, she had never heard of the Minamoto clan. _Maybe his mother married into another family_ she considered. _I'll have to ask him sometime._

"Alright guys hold up here!" she instructed. She may have agreed to be on their team but she'd rather die then let one of them be team leader.

"What's up Misato-Chan?" Kenji asked, complying with her command and stopping on a branch a few feet from hers.

"We're going to have to work out some type of strategy to locate the tags as quickly as possible. We don't have all day to find them, just a few hours" she explained.

"We could split up" Kenji suggested.

"That is an option" Misato agreed. "But we'd have no way to communicate with each other. The general idea of us being able to work together is for us to actually be able to work together. We can't do that if we split up."

At her words Kenji put his right hand to his chin and left hand to his right elbow in thought. Staring at him, Misato couldn't help but notice the depth of his eyes. His grey eyes felt so deep, she could almost feel herself beginning to get sucked into them.

Shaking off her thoughts in a fluster, she noticed Yuji rummaging through his kunai pouch.

"Ah here we go!" he exclaimed pulling out two small boxes and throwing them to Misato and Kenji. "They're radio transmitters" he made clear before pulling out a third box and opening it. "This way we can split up and still be in contact with each other."

Misato smirked; she had found a use for Yuji. He was well prepared, that would help in missions in the future if they managed to pass this test.

She popped in the batteries and positioned the transmitter to her ear. "Alright guys it says we only have a range of 4 kilometres on the box so don't exceed that distance. Kenji you go East, Yuji you go west and I'll go north. We meet back in thirty minutes" she pulled out a kunai and threw it into the ground. "Radio in if you find anything."

Misato was enjoying this leadership thing. Kenji and Yuji were hanging off every word she spoke, it felt empowering. As of that moment she definitely did not want to be split up from the two boys and have to join a different team. She wouldn't even exchange one of them to be with Atsuko.

Atsuko was a bit of a… free spirit. She wouldn't listen to her instructions as intently as these two would. That being said Atsuko was her best friend and she loved her to bits but on a mission Atsuko would be more of a burden and she didn't want to have to think of her that way.

Yuji helped instruct them on what frequency to set the transmitters on and also helped Kenji understand how it worked. "Okay, let's go!" Misato directed and the three of them went on in there respective directions.

Losing herself in a moment of thought as she searched for the tags, she wondered why she was dragged into Kenji's eyes the way she was. Sure he was cute, Matsu cute, but he was ten. Two years younger then her. She cursed herself for that moment of attraction. Blaming it on hormones she continued searching. Locating a decoy tag and stuffing it in her kunai pouch she was surprised to hear her transmitter buzz and then here the sound of Kenji's voice.

"'_Bzzt_' hey guys I've found one of the tags" he whispered "but I'm going to need your help too get it '_Bzzt_'."

"'_Bzzt_' what's your location? '_Bzzt_'" Yuji asked.

"'_Bzzt_' two-hundred meters east of our original location '_Bzzt_'" he answered.

"'_Bzzt_' alright we're on our way, is there any information we need to be aware of? '_Bzzt_'" Misato asked as she began to make her way to his location.

"'_Bzzt_' wolf…'_Bzzt_'"

"… '_Bzzt_' what? '_Bzzt_'" Misato asked, a little confused.

"'_Bzzt_' you'll see for yourself when you get here just stick to the tree tops and be quiet '_Bzzt_'."

"'_Bzzt_' understood '_Bzzt_'" she confirmed jumping back into the tree tops. She would probably meet up with Yuji on the way.

She wondered why Kenji would need help, why Kenji was whispering and what 'wolf' meant. She then thought of how Kenji 'ordered' them to stick to the tree tops. She was the one who was meant to be giving orders, not him… But… Would they be okay with her being team leader? They seemed okay with it but what if they weren't. She would have to ask them if they were when they completed their mission and officially became a team.

It had become a matter of 'when' and not 'if' they passed at this point. She had made her mind up about being on a team with them and was now looking forward to it. She may have even found allies to help her save her grandfather if it turned out that the conspiracy she accidentally stumbled on turned out to be true.

It was a possibility but it wasn't a sure thing. She would have to help train the two of them as if it were true though. They would be useless to her at Genin level. She'd have to help train Atsuko as well. She would help her out no problem.

Meeting up with Yuji, she signalled him to follow her and continued on her way towards Kenji, pushing all her thoughts to the back of her mind so she could focus on the mission.

* * *

Moving swiftly but surely, Kenji had already found two decoy tags and was beginning to get annoyed. His sort temper, already having burnt out its fuse, was beginning to get the better of him. He had been excited when he first seen the tags, thinking that he would have been able to pass but when he got closer to the tags realized that he had been doped. Taking to the tree's he again began his search once again.

Spotting something move out of the corner of his eye he stopped on the next branch and took cover behind the tree. Peering out from behind the tree he spotted a large wolf with tinted blue-black fur and incredibly blue eyes. Kenji was about to leave and continue his search for the tags when he noticed something hanging around the wolf's neck.

One of the tags hanging off of a collar on the canine. _Kaida-Sensei you are to much_ Kenji nervously mused to himself.

Electing to call in his squad in place of attempting to obtain the tag by himself he clicked the speak button on his transmitter and whispered into the mouth piece "'_Bzzt_' hey guys I've found one of the tags but I'm going to need your help too get it '_Bzzt_'."

"'_Bzzt_' what's your location? '_Bzzt_'" Yuji asked.

"'_Bzzt_' two-hundred meters east of our original location '_Bzzt_'" he answered, still whispering in fear of the wolf hearing him and running off.

"'_Bzzt_' alright we're on our way, is there any information we need to be aware of? '_Bzzt_'" Misato asked.

"'_Bzzt_' wolf…'_Bzzt_'" was the only reply he made not really thinking about it.

"… '_Bzzt_' what? '_Bzzt_'" Misato asked seeming a little confused.

"'_Bzzt_' you'll see for yourself when you get here just stick to the tree tops and be quiet '_Bzzt_'."

"'_Bzzt_' understood '_Bzzt._'"

Kenji waited patiently for his team mates to arrive, being careful not to give away his position. He was by chance downwind of the large beast so all he had to worry about was being spotted or heard.

After a few moments he spotted Misato and Yuji searching for him. He silently signalled his squad to his location and gestured them towards the wolf. "Check out what's hanging around its neck" he whispered to explain.

"A tag's hanging around its neck" Yuji stated bluntly.

"So… Why didn't you get it? Misato complained.

"What! Are you kidding me?" Kenji scream whispered to Misato. "That thing's taller then me! And it's at least four times my weight. It's almost as big as a horse."

"Your excuses are meaningless" responded Misato causing Kenji to fume with rage. "Alright here's what we're going to do…" Misato continued to speak silencing Kenji before he could. "We're going to set a rope trap for it, Yuji take Kenji and set the trap fifty meters away in that direction" she pointed back towards the way they had come.

"What're you going to do Misato-san?" Yuji asked the girl.

"I'm going to make sure it gets caught in the trap" she clarified. "You have ten minutes but I expect you to be back within five. Now go!" she commanded.

The two boys went off to set the trap, although Kenji did so a little reluctantly, and Misato began her own task. She set paper bombs along the left and right side of the forest flanking the trap while keeping an eye on the canine, which had yet to notice them, creating a path into it. This took her only a few moments and she then returned to the unofficial meeting place waiting for Yuji and Kenji to return.

When they returned she took charge again. "Alright guys follow me; I've set paper bombs to the left and right sides of us so stick close or get blown up."

They followed closely behind her, silently passing by the wolf, which was sniffing at a dead rabbit that appeared to have been decomposing for a few days.

Suddenly the wolf stood on guard. "We've moved upwind" Yuji began. "It's picking up our scent as the wind is blowing towards it now. So was this part of your plan Misato-san?"

"It wasn't a preference…" Misato verified. "But it was an unavoidable action. I would have preferred the element of surprise but nothings ever perfect."

"So what happens next in your plan?" Kenji asked, not knowing what she was thinking of doing with the paper bombs she had set.

"Just sit back and watch little man" she confidently spoke, not bothering to whisper as the wolf had already made their location. She jumped onto a branch in plain view of the beast and began to make hand signs. 'Horse-Tiger.' "Fire style: Fireball Jutsu" she shouted, taking in a large breathe and then spewing forth a giant fire ball.

"Oh I get it now" Yuji announced towards Kenji. "She's using the fire jutsu to scare the wolf in to running towards the trap and she's using to explosive tags to ensure it doesn't stay from the path."

"Oh, that's pretty clever" Kenji praised, once again in awe of how smart his team mates were. Yuji for figuring out Misato's strategy and Misato for creating it but when Misato eased off her fireball something unwarranted had happened. The wolf had not started to run away but instead stood strong. On the contrary of what Misato had envisioned the wolf bounded toward her.

"Oh no" Kenji muttered in worry. "Misato get back" he called out to her, fastening explosive tags onto two kunai in his pouch and throwing them at the base of the tree Misato was standing on.

Misato leapt back, once again standing on the branch Yuji and Kenji was standing on, right before the tags went off causing a small scale explosion in turn causing the tree to collapse, towards the wolf. The wolf doubled back to prevent being crushed by the tree and Yuji threw two more Kunai dressed with explosive tags towards the wolf, having prepared them the same instance as Kenji, as he had the same idea.

This caused the wolf to leap back once again and start running down their path. Misato gave chase along the tree tops with Kenji and Yuji sticking close by. She set of the first two tags she had prepared earlier to keep the wolf running. The wolf tried to change course, darting off to the right but Misato set off another of her two tags, forcing the wolf to continue down their path and eventually into the trap.

The wolf was raised, involuntarily, into the air with a yelp; a large woven rope net entangling it. As it struggled against his constraints, the tag around its neck fell through an opening in between the ropes. Misato quickly drew a shuriken from her pouch and threw it at the link connecting the tag to the collar, separating them, and quickly snatched the tag out of the air and landed at the base of the tree holding up the trap.

Kenji and Yuji followed her decent and stood a few feet away from her. "So it's the right tag yeah? Not another trick." Kenji asked.

"Yeah it's the right tag" Misato replied, holding up the tag for them to see.

"That's good" Yuji announced.

"Yeah" Kenji agreed. Kenji put his hands behind his head and began to catch his breathe.

A low ominous laugh filled the air, startling the three Genin causing them to look around frantically. Searching for the culprit

"He-he-he, good work kiddies" It spoke. The three heads snapped towards the rope net containing the wolf. The wolf proceeded to bite through the ropes holding it in place, fall towards the ground and then land on its feet perfectly. "A little destructive if you ask me but no ones dead so it works out… At least I don't think anyone's dead."

The shinobi we're in shock, mouths gaping. Kenji was the first to speak up: "Holly crap it can talk!"

"Oh yeah" the wolf sheepishly acknowledged, "You've probably never seen a talking wolf have you?"

Reforming a little composure, Yuji decided to answer. "No, I can't say that I have. This is a rare treat!" he exclaimed. A smile now adorning his face "You must be a shinobi's summoned animal, rather then your average run of the mil wolf."

"What was your first clue? The fact that I'm the size of a small horse or the fact I can talk?" the wolf asked mockingly.

"The fact that you can talk is what clued me in" Yuji blankly answered the rhetorical question.

"Hehe well the names Ookasui, summoned wolf of Kaemon. What may I ask are your names?"

"My name's Naka Yuji. This is Minamoto Kenji and Katsuragi Misato." Yuji answered on behalf of the group indicating his friends. He earned himself a 'what the hell do you think you're doing, he could be an enemy' look from Misato, causing a sweat drop to form at the back of his head.

"It's nice to meet you all" Ookasui cheerfully said. He turned his attention towards Misato. "Katsuragi-san it's great to meet you at long last. Your grandfather has spoken of you on occasion. He has told me that you have really excelled as a shinobi and after seeing that fireball of your's, I would have to agree with him."

"You know my grand father?" Misato asked the wolf curiously.

"Yes, I am the summoned animal of Kaemon-sama after all. Your father was his sensei and in my youth I was sent on a few missions with him. Your grandfather, he is a very powerful shinobi. The Katsuragi bloodline really is quiet something, it flows thick in his veins."

"The Katsuragi bloodline has no kekkei genkai" Misato argued. "We are the same as any other regular shinobi."

"Hn, no blood limit huh?" Ookasui muttered under breathe. "Know this! Every bloodline has a beginning. The great clans of the leaf village: Hyuga, Uchiha. Their abilities, they all stem from one individual. The abilities being passed down to the children, their children's children and so on." Ookasui paused for a moment before continuing "I wonder…" he started. "What has your grandfather pass on to you Katsuragi Misato..? Your blood runs thick with the blood of the Katsuragi. Thicker then your grandfathers."

"And how do you know that?" Misato scoffed.

"I can smell it… In your blood" Ookasui confidently established. Misato looked down at her hands, her left hand was bleeding. Probably cut open from some shrapnel from the exploding tags. "I'd say…" Ookasui started to speak. "If anyone has a chance of starting a Katsuragi blood limit, it's you Katsuragi-san. If you live long enough, that is."

The large wolf turned away from the group of shinobi and began to leave. "Farewell Katsuragi Misato, Naka Yuji and Minamoto Kenji. I wish you all the best." With that he made his way away from the group, vanishing in the shrubbery of the forest… Well, what was left of it anyway.

"Bye Ookasui-san!" Yuji and Kenji called after him.

Kenji turned his attention towards Misato when Ookasui was completely out of sight. She was staring out into space, presumably going over what Ookasui had spoken to her. "Misato-Chan?" Kenji spoke breaking Misato out of her trance "you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm fine" she assured him.

"Nice guy, that Ookasui" Yuji cut in. "From what he said, he seems to know quiet a lot about Misato-san. You think he's right about you being able to start a blood limit for your clan?"

Misato didn't answer for a while. Kenji was becoming a little nervous, for his team mate. Even if she would never admit it, she was a little distraught from what Ookasui had told her. He could tell, he could feel it in her aura.

"No…" Misato spoke up. "I don't think he's right."

**To Be continued**

* * *

Late update, sorry about that. You know if I do have a fan who reads this FF sorry. So far I'm only writing this for myself. So lonely…. (Cries)


	7. Chapter 7: Kaida's Test Pt 2

Chapter seven is up, trying not to post late updates anymore but meh. Hoping I can get them posted up within nine days but this chapter went a bit longer then I would have liked it to have. I can not control writers block.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Wiping the sweat from his fore head Yuji continued his search for the tags Kaida had so skilfully hidden. It had already been two hours, leaving only an hour and a half longer to continue the search.

Kenji had been the one to find the first tag around the neck of a large wolf although Misato had been the one to collect it. Ownership over the tag was resolved after an intense rock, paper, scissors battle, by his suggestion, the winner claiming the tag for themselves with no hard feelings. Misato had won the game, trouncing Kenji's scissors with rock.

Laughing off the game Kenji announced his intentions to find another tag for himself within ten minutes, a promise left to go unfulfilled as it had already been well over an hour and nothing had been found. Well. Other then a boat load of decoy tags. Yuji couldn't help but muse over the thought of the decoy he had found with a smiley face, blowing a raspberry drawn rather playfully towards the bottom of the paper being found by Misato.

Although she had already passed this exam, she seemed to remain very competitive and radioed in every ten minutes or so to see if they had found anything, which they hadn't.

He was getting very anxious at this point. They had gone over the training field at least three times by now and they still were yet to find anything, and even more annoying… Was the bird flying around in circles over their heads! It had been flying in circles all day, landing every ten minutes and then taking off again not long after.

It had begun to sync in with Misato's radio checks unconsciously; this was how he surmised the ten minute time frame. It would land right before Misato contacted him and take off again shortly after their conversation had ended. _Stupid falcon! Choose a place to land and stay there! _He inwardly screamed at the bird.

Something clicked in Yuji's head. _That falcon is completely red and it's not a native species…_

"'Bzzt' hey guys, can you see that red bird circling around the training field? 'Bzzt.'"

Misato was the first to answer him. "'Bzzt' yeah what about it Yuji? 'Bzzt.'"

"'Bzzt' it's not a native species 'Bzzt'"

"'Bzzt' so what?" Kenji immaturely enquired "so a bird decided to take a break in Kusa for a while, what's the big deal Senpai? 'Bzzt.'"

"'Bzzt' you're saying that the bird could have been summoned here in the same fashion as the wolf we encountered before? 'Bzzt'" Misato seemed to have seen through his revelation.

"'Bzzt' that's exactly what I'm saying! 'Bzzt'"

"'Bzzt' it's better then nothing and at least worth checking out" Misato supposed. "Alright, let's head to the meeting place, see you soon 'Bzzt.'"

"'Bzzt' see ya 'Bzzt'" Yuji quickly farewelled before making his way to meet up with his group. His main concern with his theory was that he couldn't see the tag hanging around its neck, like they did with the wolf. However, there was a chance the bird was wearing the tag on its back, out of sight from the Genin below.

It made sense. If the bird was wearing it in the same manner as the wolf, the tag could disturb its flying. An updraft could blow it up into its face, it could accidentally get caught on something or it could just be a nuisance blowing in the wind.

He was the second to arrive at the meeting place, Misato reaching it before him. She didn't acknowledge him or even flinch at his arrival but he guessed that she knew he was their and was just probably waiting for Kenji to arrive before speaking, Misato never really was one for conversation. "Hey" he greeted her and true to her character she only lifted a few fingers from her crossed arms as an interpretation of a wave.

A few more silent second slowly passed by and Kenji joined them, he appeared to be a little out of breathe. "What took you so long?" Misato demanded, apparently disregarding his fatigued state.

"Oh 'puff' sorry 'huff'" he apologised to Misato. Standing up and taking a deep breathe he continued to speak. "I was over by the river over by the eighth training ground."

"But that's over three kilometres away!" Yuji shouted excitedly. He was shocked that Kenji had made it over to them so soon. They had only agreed to meet each other a few moments ago, to travel quickly; he really had underestimated the young boy. _Well he was made a shinobi after only six months for a reason I guess._

"Yeah, it's a new record for me" Kenji announced now wearing a smile. "Although I'm hoping to improve on it soon."

"Moving on…" Misato cut in. She seemed a little peeved for some reason but Yuji couldn't exactly figure out why. It wasn't because they were disregarding the mission. It was something else. "We need to devise a strategy for catching the falcon."

"We could set a trap like we did before" Kenji suggested.

"It wouldn't work" Misato interjected. "The bird can just fly up in the air away from the trap."

"Well then. What if we cut off the sky from it?" Yuji cheekily proposed. "We cut off the sky and it'll be easier to trap."

"And just how do you propose we 'cut off the sky' then?" Misato asked, irritated.

"Alright, time for an explanation" Yuji eagerly began, throwing his arms up causing Misato to roll her eyes while Kenji grinned at his team mates' enthusiasm. "Every ten minutes or so it lands and doesn't take of again for about two minutes. All we have to do is set a net up above it so when it tries to fly away; it's stopped by the net."

"That's a good plan Yuji" Misato praised. "There are just two problems. One, we don't have a net." Yuji began tried to cut in but Misato quickly continued with her rant. "Let me try that again, we have a net but the links in the net are too wide and the bird could just fly through the gaps." Yuji once again tried to interject but Misato once again cut him off. "We could use more rope to make the holes smaller but then the second problem kicks in. If we do try to use the rope to make the gaps in the net smaller we wouldn't have any left to actually trap the bird with."

"Wire!" was Yuji's only reply.

"Come again!" Misato barked.

"We can use wire to 'fill in the gaps' and then use more to trap the bird."

Misato held a bemused expression on her face. She hadn't thought of using wire, it would actually work better using wire instead of rope as the wire would be harder to see so the bird would actually fly towards one of the closed openings rather then try and find another route.

"It could work" she announced, agreeing to go along with the idea. "What did you have in mind for trapping it?"

"I could weave a net of wire and attach kunai to the corners. I could pin it to a tree if I get a clear shot."

"Work it take a long time to weave the net?" Kenji interjected.

"No longer then what it would take for you two to fix up that rope net, besides…" Yuji started as he pulled a mini blow torch from his kunai pouch. "I'm sort of cheating." He smiled a very mischief smile as he lit the torch.

"Very well" exclaimed Misato. "Kenji and I will go fix them net while you weave your own. How long before the bird sets down again?"

Yuji looked towards the falcon as it began to descend. "It's only just going down now; we should have twelve minutes then."

"This plan relies on the bird following suit and continues to take off and landing in predictable intervals. We can't be sure that this is true or if it will continue to take off and land at these intervals. We also don't have all day so we have to be quick. Alright let's move!" Misato once again gave the order which Yuji and Kenji followed.

Yuji shut off his blow torch and pulled out a reel of wire and a pair of scissors. Kenji and Misato had left to got and retrieve the net they had used to trap Ookasui in an hour and a half ago.

He began to cut off pieces of wire from the reel and set them down in a checked structure. Luckily the wind had died down and did not disturb the threads of wire, it would be almost impossible for him to set up the net if it hadn't or at the very least it would have taken a bit longer.

Having covered an area about one meter squared, Yuji once again sparked up his mini blow torch and melted the overlapping wires together. Soon he had finished and even though they were welded they still remained fairly flexible. He could roll it into a ball if he wanted to. Laying the wire net back down he positioned four kunai at the corners and proceeded to weld to wire net onto the kunai.

When he had finished his task and had given the net sufficient time to cool, he set out to find Misato and Kenji. He found them where they had left the net trap earlier, they were almost finished so Yuji decided to help them finish. They had decided to set the wire going diagonally across the square gaps in the net. It was a good idea really it would be more effective and it was also faster then if they had went horizontally and vertically.

Kneeling down to help Yuji heard his friend speak to him. "Beat us, huh Yuji?" Kenji chuckled as he spoke.

"Well I'm not a master black smith for nothing you know" Yuji said winking at his squad mate. "It was a piece of cake, almost an insult to my talents." Kenji laughed light heartedly; he always had a way of making things… happier Yuji surmised. He was always smiling, it just made him want to smile too and judging by the grin Misato wore a few moments ago, he assumed she felt the same way. Even if she would never admit it, she seemed like the kind of person.

Soon they had finished repairing and altering the net. "How much longer do we have?" Misato asked, directing her question at Yuji.

"Given that he will actually land to roost, about three minutes" he answered.

"Alright let's move, quickly." Following direction, Yuji and Kenji packed the net in a fashion that would allow for swift movement and gave chase after their team mate, be cautious not to attract the attention of the falcon flying over head.

Abruptly stopping in a tree, nearby the falcon's circling; Misato began conveying the strategy they were going to use in order to secure the bird. "Let's go over the plan once more, in further detail, before we begin. When it lands, we'll quickly move to the location it has chosen to roost. When we arrive, Kenji and I will attach the net to the tops two neighbouring tree's and then quickly throw a kunai with an explosive tag at the ground, the explosion causing the bird to become panicked and quickly fly towards the sky. At this point Kenji and I will throw the two kunai attached to the net at another two tree's at the opposite flank of the tree line around the bird restricting its movement giving Yuji his opportunity to throw his net and pin it down so we can collect the tag. Any questions?"

The pair shook their heads. "Good, then get ready" she instructed. Yuji palmed the net off to Kenji who in turn proceeded to Misato's side. They needed to be close so they could unravel and instigate their part of the plan. Yuji prepped his own net, ready to ensnare his unsuspecting prey.

As if on que, the falcon made its decent. The three Genin quickly but silently made their way to the location it had chosen. The falcon roosted on a low branch, cleaning its feathers, unaware of the shinobi quickly surrounding it. Yuji stole a quick glance towards his team mates.

They were already fixing the net onto the trees they had selected. He began to mentally prepare himself, the explosive tag would signal when it was time for him to move, he had to be ready.

Eyeing the bird, he was about to trap, he noticed as it was fixing it feathers something peeking over it shoulder blades. _The tag! _Yuji inwardly shrieked. It turned out he was right to suspect the flying predator. Swelling with a moment of pride he noticed something move in the corner of his eye.

Misato had thrown the Kunai and explosive tag at the ground. It exploded with a large 'bang!' causing the surrounding wildlife to panic and run of in all different directions but more importantly it caused the falcon they were herding to take flight. Misato seeing this quickly threw the kunai towards the trees opposite them, expanding the net but… as with all things, it didn't go completely as planned.

The net had slowed down the kunai to such a degree that they didn't stick into the trees. _We were idiots not to test this out first! _He criticized to himself. It wasn't a complete loss though the net had expanded over the falcon, restricting its movements and giving him his opening. The only problem was that the net was falling, he couldn't pin it at this angle. He only had one choice, find a new angle. Summoning all the chakra he could muster into his legs, he quickly leapt from his branch to the right of the bird.

He quickly threw his net, catching the bird off guard and pinning it to the tree. Successful in his mission he now had a new problem to deal with. He was falling from a great height with no branch to grab onto. _I really didn't think this through _was the only thought that occupied his head.

His only chance was to wait for the net to fall to his level but he was moving away from it and if he missed he was finished. He stretched out his arm as far as it could go, reaching for the rope, barely grazing it.

Time stopped. He had missed the rope and was now plummeting towards the ground with no way of stopping himself. Suddenly he felt his hand being grasped by something. Kenji had jumped down and grabbed Yuji's hand with his left and grabbed the net with his right.

"You crazy or something?" Kenji shouted at him as the net constricted having completely extended down towards the ground. Yuji could have sworn he heard Kenji's shoulders pop but he seemed content.

"Thanks man you're a life saver!" Yuji exclaimed.

"Tell me something I don't know" Kenji teased.

"You can drop me now Kenji, it should be a safe height."

"K, no problem." Kenji complied with Yuji's claim and dropped him down. There was still a three meter drop towards the ground but for a ninja that was nothing and Yuji landed with the grace of a cat. "Geronimo!" Kenji shrieked letting go of the net and landing on top Yuji.

"Ah! What the hell?" Yuji shouted at Kenji.

"I said Geronimo!"

"Just got off of me!" he demanded. Dusting himself off Yuji noticed Misato over by the tree the falcon was trapped on, waiting for them, arms crossed and a stern look on her face. Wandering over to her sheepishly the only words he could muster were "well that was interesting."

Misato seemed less then impressed. "This is a survival exercise. You're meant to survive. Try not to do anything like that again." After speaking she then jumped up to the high branches of the tree, towards the trapped bird.

"Come on!" Kenji insisted to his friend, following Misato's path up the tree.

"Yeah whatever" Yuji answered as he followed suit and ascended the tree.

He arrived in time to see Misato pull the tag out from behind the bird, without being bitten. She then preceded to hand the tag to Yuji. "It was your plan and your discovery of the tag so you're the one to inherit it" she explained.

Smiling and accepting the tag Yuji looked over to Kenji to see if there were any objections. There weren't. "Thanks you guys."

"We should hurry up and find the other tag" Misato insisted. "Kenji hasn't gotten one yet."

"You're right" Yuji agreed, earning him a look from Misato that said 'aren't I always.' "Are we splitting up again?"

"We're running out of time so it seems like the only logical option" Misato took the liberty of answering.

"Alright so then I'll catch up with you guys latter" Yuji was about to bid them farewell when another voice spoke up.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" the voice said, a little bit angry.

Turning their heads they noticed it was the falcon. "Holy crap, you can talk just like that wolf, Ookasui!" Kenji exclaimed.

"Don't compare me to that flea bag!" the falcon demanded. "Comparing me to him is like comparing a goldfish to a human! My intelligence is far superior! Now get me the hell out of here!"

"If you're so smart how'd you fall for the same trap as him?" Kenji questioned while pulling at his kunai constraints, setting him free. The falcon answered by attacking his face, scratching his face up. "Gyah!"

"You're the idiot, punk!" the falcon claimed as he flew off, leaving Kenji a tattered mess.

"Well that was entertaining" Yuji chuckled.

"A word of advice…" Misato started. "Don't antagonise people, or animals. They just get pissed off"

"Right" Kenji muttered, barely moving on the ground. Yuji lent down to tend to his little scratches, pulling out some ointment he had in a small compartment next to his shuriken holster.

After a few seconds of applying ointment and Kenji fixing his hair Misato once again spoke up. "Alright we've wasted enough time here. Let's go."

"Right" the boys confirmed in unison and then they al went off in their own directions, in search of the last tag.

* * *

Misato was very much pissed. Another hour went by with no one finding anything. She was almost at her limit, physically and mentally. Even worse was the fact that it was her leadership that was failing.

It was her who decided that she would become leader in the absence of Kaida, it was her who decided that they would split up, it was her that instructed Yuji and Kenji during the capturing of the other tags and although that proved a success, it wasn't a total success. With one of the tags still out there, it would never be a complete success.

Burdened with the possible reality of her first failure she radioed in with the others for what seemed like the millionth time that day but was only the twentieth, she had counted in her boredom; she asked once again "'Bzzt' anyone found anything yet? 'Bzzt'"

Yuji was the first to respond. "'Bzzt' No not yet 'Bzzt'" he whined, equally annoyed at how pointless their search had seemed.

"'Bzzt' I haven't found anything either 'Bzzt'" Kenji interjected.

Disgusted with herself Misato recalled the conversation Yuji and Kenji had with each other no longer then an hour and a half ago. Kenji had just arrived when she questioned him about his tardiness and she once again was lost in his eyes unconsciously. She cursed herself for that. She really had to get through this puberty thing as quickly as possible.

Even worse, was the conversation they had a few minutes later.

Kenji and Misato had found the net they were to use to trap the bird with when Misato accidentally complemented their craftsmanship. "This net is expertly woven. Its quality truly betrays the amount of time it had taken."

"Well…" Kenji stammered, brushing the back of his head while blushing. "It was mainly Yuji's work"

"I was under the impression that that was the case" Kenji was cut down by Misato's words but he quickly recovered laughing it off.

Misato took out her reel of wire and began to weave them through the holes in the net rope, Kenji quickly followed suit.

After a few minutes of silence Kenji picked up conversation. "Hey Misato-Chan, I was wondering If I could ask you a question?"

"Might as well" Misato bluntly replied.

"Are we… Do you…" Kenji exhaled and just spat the question out. "Are we friends?"

Misato was stunned; she didn't expect him to ask her that. "W-what?" she managed to stutter in her shock.

"I was wondering if we were friends. I mean we seem to get along it's just I don't know sometimes. You're not exactly the conversational type." Kenji wore a smile as he spoke his last sentence.

"We've only known each other a couple of days Kenji…" noticing that Kenji was looking disheartened she decided to be nice. "But yes. If you feel as though you have to give our relationship a label then we're friends."

For a moment Kenji seemed content with her answer but he quickly turned troubled. "Well you don't have to say it like that. You make it sound weird."

"Whatever, just keep working."

"Right" Kenji concurred. "So you think this is gonna work?"

"It should or at least it has a chance of working. All depends on Yuji and if the bird has the tag or not."

"It'll have it, don't worry" Kenji assured her.

"What makes you so sure?" Misato inquired.

"I trust him. If he say's that the bird has the tag then I believe him." Kenji spoke confidently with full belief in his words. Misato was a little surprised by his antiques. A shinobi wasn't meant to trust like that. She had been taught to always be weary and suspect everything, after all deception was the art of the shinobi.

She was about to relinquish her line of thought, choking it off to inexperience as he's had only been taking classes for six months before being given the chance to become a shinobi but the chose to voice her confusion. "You trust him?"

"Yeah, when I was studying for the Genin exams I read a book that said trust within comrades was a necessity. It was written by a Jonin from the leaf village. It was a pretty good book, full of useful stuff."

Again Misato was confused. A Jonin was telling her to trust people? She had always been told never to trust anyone; even before she entered the academy her parents were telling her never to trust anyone. _This is indeed most troubling_ Misato noted to herself .Deciding to disregard the proclamation Misato remembered a question she had meant to ask him and this, seeming like the appropriate time to ask a question, choose to ask. "Hey Kenji, your family name is Minamoto. Correct?"

"Yeah it is. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to know if the Minamoto clan is a shinobi clan. Your abilities are reminiscent to those of shinobi heritage but I've never heard of the Minamoto Clan so I was curious of their abilities."

"Hn, want to know my secrets huh? Hehe, well there's a reason to why you haven't heard of the great and fabled Minamoto clan Misato-Chan. A very good reason, very noble."

"And what is that reason?" asked Misato dropping what she was doing and giving him her full attention. She was very curious now; her clan held great influence over the village and how Kenji was speaking it was if the Minamoto clan could rival her own in power.

"Well, it's because I'm the only one left, I'm an orphan. My parents died a long time ago and with them the last of my family. To answer your question though no, my family was never a shinobi family. My father was a conscript that died in the forth shinobi war, that's all I ever really knew about him" even as Kenji spoke a smile never left his face despite this being a very painful subject.

"Oh Kenji, I'm sorry I didn't know" Misato apologized.

"Don't worry about it. It's not like I'm gonna go off the handle and attack you or anything."

"That's good…" Misato smirked as she continued. "Cause if you did, I'd have to kill you."

"You really think you can?" Kenji challenged, stopping what he was doing and smiling at the girl.

"You really think you can stop me" she countered shooting him a grin of her own.

Before anything 'deadly' could happen they both began to laugh while returning to their work. _I like the kid_ Misato inwardly admitted to herself. _He's not so bad; he needs a bit of whipping into shape but after that I wouldn't mind being seen in public with him._

As she was thinking she noticed Yuji drop down and join them. As he kneeled down Kenji greeted him "Beat us huh?"

Misato took this as her que to become the quiet third party she always was. Looking up towards Yuji and Kenji as they continued their conversation she realized she was paying more attention to Kenji then Yuji and then after further investigation she realized, she was smiling at him.

_Oh crap, I've got a crush on a ten year old _she cried inwardly_. This is just perfect; I can not tell Atsuko about this, if she ever found out I'd never hear the end of it._

Returning back to the present she was cut off from her private flashback by the sound of Kenji's voice coming through her ear piece. "'Bzzt' hey guys, I was just thinking 'Bzzt'" he began.

"'Bzzt' well that a great start kohai." Yuji teased. "What were you thinking about? 'Bzzt'"

"'Bzzt' Shut up Senpai! Anyway I was thinking, there are three tags right. 'Bzzt'"

"'Bzzt' Yes Kenji, what's your point? 'Bzzt'" asked Misato.

"'Bzzt' well we found the first one around the neck of that wolf, Ookasui. And then the second one around the neck of the bird 'Bzzt'."

"'Bzzt' Again I ask you, what's your point? 'Bzzt'" Misato asked in a rather course tone this time.

"'Bzzt' well Kaida-sensei had a tag too" he pointed out. "I was just thinking, it seems as though it's a survival exercise where we are the ones on the offensive. So you think we're meant to take the tag from her?"

Misato was once again baffled. "Could it really be that simple?" She asked herself. It had to be, the best place to hide is in plain sight and all she said was that there were three tags scattered throughout the training zone. She didn't say that the tag she had wasn't one of them. "Crap!" she screamed at the forest. Angry at herself.

"'Bzzt' that has to be it, that must be why we can't find it 'Bzzt'" Yuji agreed though the radio.

Taking command once again Misato spoke up. "'Bzzt' alright let's meet up back at the spot, we can talk about how we can take the tag and strategies we can implement when we get there. Be quick guys, we've only got thirty minutes until we run out of time 'Bzzt.'"

"'Bzzt' Got'cha see ya in a sec, kay Misato-Chan! 'Bzzt'" Kenji exclaimed through the radio.

"'Bzzt' yeah Misato-chaaaan 'Bzzt'" Yuji held onto the last word, obviously to try and rile Kenji up. And it worked.

"'Bzzt' Shut up Senpai! 'Bzzt'" roared Kenji through the earpiece. Misato could swear she heard Yuji laughing through the intercom but he hadn't clicked in the button.

"'Bzzt' knock it off guys. We have more important thing to do than argue 'Bzzt'" Misato scolded.

"'Bzzt' Right, sorry Misato-Chan 'Bzzt'" Kenji apologized.

"'Bzzt' yeah sorry Misato-Chaaaaaan 'Bzzt'" Yuji teased once again but Kenji failed to respond. Which was probably for the best.

Once again arriving at their meeting spot before the others, Misato crossed her arms across her chest and waited for the others to arrive. Yuji was once again the second to arrive and before he could greet Misato Kenji jumped down and shot the boy a glare. Intervening before any arguments could begin Misato spoke up "So what are we going to do?" she asked the two.

"We should probably check with her to make sure that it really is the tag we're searching for" Yuji suggested.

"Yeah I mean she could probably just fail all of us if we just straight out attacked her and it wasn't. Probably get arrested for it as well" Kenji relayed. The others became disgruntled at his words. They probably would, attacking a Jonin would get you something along the lines of twenty-five to life.

"Alright but then what if that really is the point and we really need the tag she has. What would we do then?"

"Well setting traps has worked for all for all of today, we could try that again" Kenji proposed.

"I don't think that we'd be able to catch her in a net like we did the other two" Yuji pointed out.

"Well what if we try a different type of trap?" Kenji enquired

"What did you have in mind?" Misato asked him.

"I read in a book about a strategy used to incapacitate opponents when as was studying for the Genin exams. Generally one guy distracts the enemy while the others set kunai and shuriken traps in the trees, out of sight. The shinobi who are setting the traps then signal the guy distracting the enemy, letting them get out of the line of fire so they can set off the traps" Kenji explained

"A little extreme don't you think?" Yuji enquired.

"We're shinobi, extreme is our thing!" Kenji insisted.

"Well we might as well, she did tell us to bring kunai and al so we might as well use them" Misato concurred. "We don't have anymore time to brainstorm anyway; it seems like a logical option so let's roll with it. I'll be the one to distract her, you two keep in ear shot but stay out of sight so you can set the trap. Throw a kunai at the ground near my location as a signal and then set off the traps. Alright let's go!" she declared and Yuji and Kenji followed without question.

Misato was really hoping that Kaida really did have the tag they needed. She was a little aggravated and needed to blow off some steam. Some Taijutsu was exactly what the doctor ordered and she was really looking forward to it. She bounded through the trees as fast as her feet could take her, almost leaving Kenji and Yuji in the dust.

Reaching the open plain she leapt in front of Kaida while Kenji and Yuji remained hidden in the shrubs. Noticing that Kaida was joined by the wolf, Ookasui, and the falcon from earlier Misato continued to ask her the question. "Kaida, the tag you have. Is it the one we're searching for?"

Stealing a quick glance at Ookasui, who had just spoken to Kaida so Misato couldn't hear, Kaida replied to her question. "Yes it is." She continued to remove the tag from her bra and then clip it onto her shirt, along her cleavage. "So… Come and get it" Kaida then challenged.

Restraining herself from jumping out directly at her sensei she asked one more question. "Can I use kunai?"

"You can use anything you deem necessary. Be it deadly force or feathers. Your choice really."

Misato couldn't but smirk. She pretty much gave them permission to kill her, if they could, so their plan to use traps would be okay. Without another second thought Misato charged at Kaida with a right straight punch. _God I need this _she screamed to herself in delight.

Kaida easily dodged and countered with a fist to the face knocking Misato down. _Bad idea charging at her like that, she's a Jonin I can't let my emotions take hold of me. So I'll have to use other measures to test the water or else it'll be my ass. _Stifling a grin Misato recovered and got to her feet.

"Gyahaha, well this looks as though it may be fun to watch, aye Hayatatsu?" the large canine Ookasui bellowed. He seemingly enjoyed seeing Misato get kicked around.

"Are you kidding?" The red falcon spoke up. "I don't have time for this, I'm out of here!" after he spoke the bird disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"That Hayatatsu, never the social one is he?" Ookasui asked no one in particular.

Kaida turned to reply to the wolf's rhetorical question. "He just prefers other birds to humans and wolves. Don't take it personally Ookasui-san."

_This is my chance _Misato screamed inwardly as Kaida had turned away. She quickly made hand signs 'Horse-Tiger.' She then took a deep breath and spat forth a large ball of fire, overwhelming the opposing woman in flames. The flame engulfed a large area, burning the grass and creating a small fissure in the earth. With drawing the fire she observed the corpse of the woman who fool hardily looked away and gave her the opportunity to cast such an intense jutsu.

Instead she found a log, burnt to cinders. "Shit a replacement jutsu!" Misato shouted while frantically searching for the woman. Feeling a shake of the ground and the sound of rumbling coming towards her she once again cried aloud "Oh no!"

As she tried to jump away a hand erupted from the earth and secured her ankle. "To late!" she heard a voice bark as she was pulled into the ground, down to her neck. "Earth style: Head hunter jutsu" Kaida said as she was standing on top of the ground in front of her, looking down at her. "You shouldn't be so reckless Misato-san, especially seeing as though I'm a Jonin. I mean I didn't get promoted to this position for nothing you know."

Misato scowled. At that moment she hated Kaida and she also hated herself for one simple reason: the fact that Kaida was right.

**To be continued**

* * *

Author's notes: well that's another chapter done. So far nothing really of interest has happened, next chapter will be the end of Kaida's test and after that will be their first mission. It'll get more interesting after that, promise.

Read and review, thanks.


	8. Chapter 8: Yuji's sister

Chapter eight, the final preliminary chapter (FINALLY!). I really meant to only have five chapters' tops for the intros but I guess my inexperience took hold. On a side note I'll also have to rewrite chapter one as I'm not happy with it anymore. I over looked some pretty important things, such as what colour hair Kenji even has. Will get to it ASAP.

* * *

A loud crash distracted Kenji from his work, almost causing the trap he was setting to go off and stab him with several kunai. Cursing silently to himself he turned to see what had caused the sound only to be shocked by what he saw. "Oh my god Misato-Chan's been beheaded!" he whisper yelled to Yuji.

Yuji looking away from his own trap setting peered over to the clearing Misato and Kaida were currently exchanging blows. Once he made Kaida's position and noticed Misato's head on the ground in front of her he panicked for a second but quickly calmed down. "Don't worry Kohai, it's just the head hunter jutsu. She's fine, she just can't move." he explained.

"Yeah but still…" Kenji began, panic clearly evident in his voice. "We've got to go help her!"

"But what about the traps? We're meant to be the ones setting them!" Yuji pleaded with Kenji as he began his way out of the trees and shrubbery while readying a Kunai.

Ignoring Yuji's pleas Kenji continued on his way before speaking up. "While I distract Kaida-sensei you get Misato-Chan out of that hole." Yuji began to protest but Kenji cut him off before he could say anything. "Get Misato-Chan to help you!" he shouted, referring to the traps that still needed to be set.

Kenji threw the kunai he had prepared out towards Kaida and quickly followed up with rain of shuriken. Kaida detected the assault early however and quickly jumped out of the way, avoiding all the projectiles and raised an eyebrow that screamed 'that all you got?'

Kenji was far from finished though. He charged for her, rapidly closing the distance between them, and threw a round house kick towards her mid section which she once again avoided by side stepping.

Now with some distance between Misato and Kaida, and knowing that it was far to late to change his mind, Yuji had followed Kenji's lead and proceeded to 'dig up' the girl. "What are you two doing? You're supposed to be setting the traps!" Misato barked at Yuji.

"Yeah, change of plans. We're going to be the ones setting the traps now while Kenji distracts Kaida-sensei" Yuji informed her while making some minor progress in emancipating Misato from her confinement.

Misato was furious with what Yuji had just told her. "I'm the one who is supposed to be giving the orders. I'm the more experienced shinobi, the more talented individual. I should be the one fighting Kaida not Kenji!" She was pissed and she going to make her opinion known.

"Yeah well don't blame us" Yuji insisted as he pulled Misato out of the hole, catching the side of her breast as he did. "We're not the ones who got herself caught with the head hunter jutsu.

Gritting her teeth Misato caved. "Fine, let's go then." Making her way over to the cover of the trees shrubbery, she stole a glance over to Kenji's fight with Kaida. Kaida was avoiding him fairly easily to this point. Smirk on her face, egging him on with every movement and insulting him by flicking his forehead every so often.

Taking note of his movement Misato noted that Kenji's Taijutsu was fairly adept, almost as good as her own. Also taking note of Kaida's movement it was clear that she wasn't a Taijutsu style fighter and experience was the only thing keeping her from taking hits from Kenji.

Turning her attention back to setting traps, a loud gasp rang through the air and diverted her attention back towards Kaida and Kenji. Kaida drove a fist straight into his stomach. _Looks like she got bored… Unlucky kid _Misato pondered to herself. _Better hurry up and set these traps, the kid won't be able to hang in there much longer and we're probably almost out of time._

Kenji struggled to take in breathe. Kaida slammed him straight in the centre of his rib cage and he was sure that he heard a crack. _Great broken ribs, that's all I need right now._ He hadn't been expecting it, she had been content with dodging his blows at first making him believe that she wasn't going to throw a punch but then out of the blue her whole expression changed and she nailed him a good one.

Collapsing to the ground he heard Kaida speak up. "You shouldn't get so frustrated Kenji-san. You just leave openings for your opponent if you get to emotional, especially if they're baiting you." Kenji couldn't help but feel as though the statement wasn't only directed at him but was in to much pain to care.

Biting his bottom lip he stumbled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his chest, and took a fighting stance. "That all you got Kaida-sensei? I thought a Jonin would be able to kill me with one punch!" he spat in an attempt to gather some amount of courage to continue.

Smirking Kaida answered Kenji "I could have… but then I'd get in trouble. So revel in the fact that I can't kill you but know this. Just because I can't kill you, it doesn't mean I can't beat you!" with these words Kaida charged at Kenji, with every intention of punching him in the face.

Kenji couldn't help but smirk as he saw his sensei charge him. His confidence was completely drained, he knew he couldn't take Kaida in a fight but still that wasn't his intention. His 'mission' was to keep Kaida distracted while Yuji and Misato set traps, and he was succeeding in his mission up til this point. Now getting away, that was going to be the hard part.

As Kaida lifted her arm, Kenji did the only thing he could do. He fell backwards. He didn't have the time to use his arms to deflect the blow, so using some awkward limbo sort of move, he ducked under it. Taking advantage of Kaida's overextension, he grabbed her arms and threw her as hard as he could, falling over in the process. Kaida twisted in midair however and landed unscathed.

Chuckling Kenji couldn't help but voice his small success. "What did you say about not letting you opponents bait you? You should follow your own advice."

"Hn, I guess your right 'Kenji-sensei'. I'll be more careful in the future" taking a fighting stance Kaida waited for Kenji to take his own. However. A bright light coming from the tree lines stopped any continuation from beginning.

A large fireball of intense heat flew towards Kaida, forcing her to jump up over the top of the inferno. _This must be Misato's version of signalling me_ rationalized Kenji. Withdrawing three smoke bombs, he threw them towards the airborne Kaida who in turn drew a kunai, using it to try and deflect the bombs but realising her mistake to late. The bombs exploded in cloud of purple smoke, engulfing Kaida.

Safely out of Kaida's sight he began to search for a hiding place. He turned to run but fell into the hole that Misato had climbed out of few moments ago. _Good enough _Kenji mused to himself, his squad mates must have thought it was good enough as well as they had set off the traps, kunai and shuriken were sailing towards Kaida in all different directions.

Kaida landed and managed to deflect some of the kunai, however a few of the kunai drove into her back. Misato and Yuji cheered at the sight but their cheers were short lived when she screamed in pain only to disappear in a puff of smoke. "What happened?" Kenji asked his friends, who were still hiding in the trees, as he pulled himself up and out of the hole.

"She just disappeared!" Yuji answered.

"But we got her right? I mean I heard her scream" Kenji enquired.

"No she just disappeared in a cloud of smoke" responded a confused Yuji.

"So what she used a replacement Jutsu?" Kenji asked but the only answer he received was the disgruntled screams of his team mates. Turning in the direction of the screams he could see two shadowy silhouettes walking in the direction of the clearing, both were carrying something large in their right arms.

The silhouettes revealed themselves as two identical Kaida's, the one on the left carrying Misato under her arm and the one on the right carrying Yuji. The two Kaida's threw Yuji and Misato to the ground in front of Kenji before the Kaida on the left disappeared in the same puff of smoke as the Kaida who was stabbed with shuriken.

Quickly returning to their feet Misato and Yuji retreated to Kenji's side before withdrawing Kunai and standing on guard. "Substitution isn't a bad guess Kenji-san but I was using the 'shadow clone' jutsu" the remaining, original, Kaida informed the group.

"Tell us how you knew where we were?" ordered Misato.

"That's an easy question to answered" Kaida smoothly replied. "Ookasui-san told me that Kenji-san and Yuji-san were hiding in the trees, don't you remember?" Misato thought back to when she first encountered Kaida and remembered not being able to hear something that the wolf had told her. "Always keep in mind that your ambush may not be unknown to the enemy and always watch your back" Kaida continued. "I mean your movement was so obvious back their, it was easy to find you. You may have been covered from sight in front of you but always be wary of what 'could' be behind you."

"How'd you even get behind us anyway?" spat Kenji. "I mean I had you right in front of me, there was no way you could have gotten into the trees without me knowing."

Kaida chuckled at his question. "Don't worry Kenji-san; it wasn't your fault I got behind you."

"It was mine" Misato murmured in anguish.

"Hehe, right. When Misato-san blew the fireball towards me I hid underground and while I was under there I created two clones: One to accompany me to 'collect' Misato-san and Yuji-san and the other fight with Kenji-san. You know you're fairly adept with Taijutsu Kenji-san; I understand why Seito-san was so persistent in pushing the other teachers into allowing you to take the Genin exam" Kaida praised.

Kenji blushed a little at her praise but regained composure when both Kaida and Misato shot him a glance that said 'Don't get to full of yourself.'

"Alright then, if the traps didn't work. Then we'll just have to fight you face to face to get that tag" Misato beamed. Pumping herself up, as well Yuji and Kenji.

Kaida smirked "That's brave and all but there's just one problem with that" she notified the Genin.

"And what's that?" asked Yuji. As if answering his question, the alarm on the clock that Kaida had set at the beginning of the test sounded. Signalling the end of the survival exercise. Yuji and Misato relaxed and put their Kunai away while Kaida walked over and shut the alarm off.

Kenji just remained frozen. He hadn't obtained his tag. He was going back to the academy. He wasn't going to be on the same squad as Yuji and Misato. His very best friends, his only friends. Yuji placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder whereas Misato just gave him an apologetic look.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air. Kaida watched the Genin for a moment before speaking up. "Well I guess it's about time for grading" she said, catching their attention. "So who's got the tags?"

Yuji and Misato both revealed the tags they held. "Right, so then Kenji is the only one without one then considering I have the third. So now let's get down to the grading."

"What do you mean sensei? We just showed you the tags" Yuji interjected.

"Well considering that the test is over I guess I can come clean" Kaida decided to confess. "The true aim of my little exam was not to see if you could get the tags but how you got them. Well, at least how you tried to get them." The three Genin were dumbfounded.

"Wha-what?" Misato managed to stutter in a second of shock and confusion.

"You were being graded on how you got the tags. Not if you got them. God, I thought I explained that clearly" Kaida complained agitated. Turning her attention towards Kenji she continued. "So Kenji-san, this means that you still have a chance of passing." Beaming Kenji's face broke into a smile. Then Kaida turned her attention towards Yuji and Misato. "But at the same time this means that you two may not pass as well." Both the Genin in question swallowed a lump in their throat nervously, while Kenji also became a bit frazzled on their behalf.

"Right, so if you would be so kind. Would you please relay to me how you searched for the tags?" Kaida requested of them.

Yuji answered on the groups behalf. "W-we split up so we could cover more ground. We stayed in contact with each other using these" Yuji pulled out his ear piece too show Kaida.

"Very clever" Kaida commended. "You came prepared, that's adamant for a shinobi."

Blushing, Yuji scratched the back of his head while Kaida continued. "Alright, let's fast forward to getting your first tag. Your first tag was obtained from Ookasui-san, correct?" The three nodded. "Okay then, explain to me how you got it."

Misato took this as her que to speak up as team leader. "Using explosive tags I created a path and forced Ookasui into a net trap that Yuji and Kenji had prepared. I set the explosive tags while Kenji and Yuji set the trap."

"Hmm, I thought I heard something earlier" Kaida joked to no one in particular. "A little extreme but I guess its okay."

"Speak for yourself!" Ookasui bellowed. "I was running for my life back there! They should be punished for the emotional turmoil they put me though."

"Emotional turmoil?" Kenji exclaimed. "Yeah right fleabag, you were fine. We even had a nice little conversation afterwards."

"Fleabag huh?" Ookasui huffed. "Watch it kid or you'll have an angry dog biting at your heels!" Ookasui glared at the young Genin as he spoke.

Rather then be intimidated though Kenji raised his voice to the canine. "Who are you calling kid, I'm a shinobi not a kid, you walking flea circus!"

"Pffft you're nothing but a wolf cub Mr. Shinobi. Go home and suckle at your mama's tit!"

"Alright that's about enough of that!" Kaida interrupted before a fight could break out. "Moving on, tell me how you obtained the second tag."

Speaking up once again Misato explained how that got the tag. "Yuji produced a plan to get the net trap we had set up to trap Ookasui with earlier and use it trap the bird; I believe you referred to him as Hayatatsu. Using the 'wolfs' net we cut off Hayatatsu's flight path and then used a smaller net Yuji contracted using wire to trap him."

"Well you guys have a thing of using traps huh? And I already know how you attempted to take the tag off of me but may I ask who came up with the idea of using shuriken and kunai traps in the manner in which you used them?"

"It was my idea" Kenji confirmed.

"Well it was once again a pretty extreme course of action. You know you could have killed me" Kaida pointed out.

"Well your not dead so I guess it doesn't matter" Kenji calmly deduced, putting his hands behind his head.

"You'd be a pretty bad Jonin if a simple kunai trap managed to kill you" Misato muttered under her breathe.

"I'm sorry Misato-san what was that?" Kaida asked the haughty girl. Misato just brushed off Kaida question with a hand swish and crossed her arms. "Yeah that's what I thought" Kaida sneered. "Anyway… I guess you'd like to know if you've passed or not."

Their attention seized, the three Genin stared at their sensei intently. Anxious to learn of their fate. "The exam was testing your team work and you guys displayed a natural affinity towards team work and worked efficiently as part of that team. So you guys pass, you're all Genin."

Kenji and Yuji cheered while Misato's smugness level multiplied. Kenji couldn't believe it, he was a Genin now and he was on a squad with his friends. Life was awesome at that moment and nothing was going to bring him down but he did have one question. "When do we have our next mission Kaida-sensei?"

"Eager aren't we?" Kaida chuckled "Team 1 will have their first official mission tomorrow, which means you'll actually get paid for it. Until then you guys go do what kids do these days. Later" with that said she made the ram hand sign and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Ookasui following suit a few seconds later.

"Well now that we're all officially Genin we should celebrate. How about it guys, you wanna come over my place for a little celebration party?" Yuji offered.

"Sure thing Senpai!" Kenji confirmed. "What about you Misato-Chan you coming?"

"No, I already agreed to meet Atsuko-san 'she turned around to leave' I'll see you later" gesturing a hand wave she left the two boys to their own devices once again.

"Bye Misato-Chan!" Kenji called out after her.

"See ya Misato-san" cried Yuji. "Well it's not going to be much of a party with just the two of us. So how about we go see if Kana is finished with his mission yet. We can all hang out together."

"Yeah sure thing Senpai, what ever you want" agreed Kenji.

"Cool" Yuji concurred and the two Genin left the ninth training field in search of Kana.

* * *

Relaxing by the river Misato waited for Atsuko to make an appearance. She had so much on her mind lately and she wanted Atsuko's opinion on some things. She also wanted to hear about her first mission today and also brag a little about hers.

Atsuko wasn't due for another half hour as they had agreed to meet each other at three in the afternoon but seeing as though she had nothing else to do she grabbed something to eat from the old timers' bakery for lunch then made her way down to the river and enjoyed a small picnic by the water. Atsuko and Misato had always enjoyed spending time by the river and was something of a weekly haunt for the two.

They would always talk about things with each other by the river, things that they may have felt uncomfortable talking about with each other somewhere else. The sound of the river was relaxing. It made the difficult things seem easier.

Taking her shoes off Misato dipped her feet in the water. The water was cold at first but it quickly warmed. Bathing in the tranquillity of the area Misato quickly let sleep overcome her. With her last conscious thought she lay down across the grass and mumbled to herself. "I hope a crab doesn't bite me."

"I wouldn't worry about that Misato-Chan; maybe the crab will trim that long toe of yours down to the length it's supposed to be." The familiar voice stirred Misato from her almost sleep and caused her to bolt up in surprise.

Taking in the colour of yellow and blue Misato looked towards the individual responsible for disturbing her. "Dammit Atsuko-san, quit baggin' on my toe."

"But it's bigger then the adjacent toe on the other foot" Atsuko cheerfully answered, taking a seat next to Misato. "Besides crabs 'nip' with their pincers, they don't bite."

"Yeah, yeah. Who cares about crabs anyway? They don't even taste good" Misato alleged. Slowly kicking the water making ripples she noticed Atsuko taking her shoes off to dip her feet in the water as well. "So what type of mission did you get today?" she asked.

"We had some baby sitting job. Really boring actually if you ask me but Nariko enjoyed it" She replied. "Nariko enjoyed it a bit too much" she spat under her breathe, agitated.

Misato smirked. "Hn, she got to spend more time with Matsu-san then you didn't she?" she accused.

Baring fists in the air Atsuko screeched. "Yes she did. Ah! It's annoying, it's like Matsu wants to be a father. Playing mommy and daddy like that. Erk, it makes me sick. I mean he's thirteen, he isn't meant to be thinking of starting a family when he's this young. It isn't right I tell ya!"

Smiling as Atsuko caught her breathe, amused by the girls rant, Misato couldn't help but stifle some laughter. "I don't think he wants to be a father Atsuko-san, I think he was just enjoying spending time with Nariko. You know you could have just bit your lip and decided to have fun yourself you know? That way you may have been able to spend more time with him. If you keep seeing Nariko as your enemy then it'll become a problem later on and it'll affect your teamwork."

"Who cares about team work?" Atsuko pouted, turning her head away from Misato.

"I do" Misato insisted "in fact. It was the whole point of the survival exercise I went through today."

"You had a survival exercise?" Atsuko asked raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Yeah, didn't you?"

"No" Atsuko bluntly responded.

"What? My sensei set up a whole exam for us and said if we didn't complete it we'd be stripped of our Genin rank!" Misato exclaimed.

"Well that's probably why we didn't have to do it" Atsuko rationalized.

"What?" asked a confused Misato.

"Well my sensei isn't the most active of shinobi. Actually he's quite lazy" Atsuko admitted, poking her tongue out. "I don't see him actually setting up a test of his own. He probably just passed us so he didn't have to do any work. In fact I don't imagine he's become a sensei of his own free will. He sort of just left us during our mission today."

"Hmm yeah probably" Misato conceded. "Hey listen Atsuko, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Yeah I thought you would want to talk about something when you invited me here" Atsuko proclaimed "So what is it?"

* * *

"Get back here you punks!" an angry stole clerk shouted towards three speedy individuals as they turned a corner.

"What the hell was up with that Kana?" shrieked the boy clad all in black.

"It was an accident Yuji I swear!" a boy rapped in bandages answered.

"Oh it was an accident you threw a watermelon at that large stack of cans in the shopping centre" Yuji lividly indicted.

"It slipped out of my hands I swear!" Kana pleaded, out of breathe.

"Jesus what have I got myself into by hanging around you guys!" a boy dressed in white, Kenji, whined.

Coming to a halt in an alley way the three panted to catch their breathe. "Alright it's probably best if we not go back into that shopping centre for a while" Yuji stressed. "How about we head back to my place for a while?" he suggested.

"Yeah sounds cool!" agreed Kana. "You can show me what you've done to my sword so far!"

"I haven't really done anything to it since you last seen it Kana, Suzume-Chan only just finished her work with the hilt design yesterday and I still haven't really found a way to shed much more weight from it yet either."

"Oh so you had Suzume work on it huh? Makes sense, she got a good eye for detail I guess" responded Kana as the three made their way over to Yuji's place.

"Who's Suzume?" Kenji asked.

"Oh she's my little sister" replied Yuji. "She's about a year younger then you. She starts at the academy next year."

"Yeah Kenji, you might have yourself a girlfriend if your lucky" Kana kidded causing Kenji to blush.

"Nah I don't think I want a girlfriend at the moment" Kenji responded. "I mean I'm only ten, I'm way too young to be thinking about dating and things like that."

"Really? 'Yuji raised an eyebrow' what if Misato-san asked you out huh? Would you say no or yes?" Yuji teased. Kenji didn't respond but Yuji caught sight of a blush burning his cheeks. "Yeah that's what I thought" he mocked.

"So little boy Kenji's got a crush on Misato huh?" Kana deduced. "Seems he's been entranced by her charm as well. Hn, you got a lot of competition if you want to get her kid. She's got most of the guys our age attracted to her. Even some of the guys who aren't our age I've noticed. Weirdo's."

"What do you mean?" Kenji naïvely asked.

"I mean some of the adult guys have been checking her out and it's weird because their grown ups and their not supposed t-"

"I think he's asking what you mean about him having a lot of competition Kana-san" Yuji interrupted before Kana could start something… Wrong.

"Oh…" Kana realised that he had made a mistake and almost tainted Kenji innocent mind. "Well I mean she's attractive and talented and you know. A lot of guys feel the same way about her that you do. She's a heart throb for a reason dude."

"Heart throb?" Kenji questioned.

"Generally it means that a lot of people like her but since she's not interested in any of them she leaves their emotions unsatisfied, causing them to build up to the point it hurts. Making their hearts throb." Yuji explained.

"Oh okay I get it" Kenji understood. The rest of the walk to Yuji's house was filled with some idle conversation. Things like favourite foods, music, sports and the like were discussed. After while though Kenji couldn't bare his curiosity and asked Kana about his clothing. "Hey Kana-san, why do you wear bandages like that?"

Kana grew ecstatic at the question; a smile could be made out from under his bandage mask. "It's out of respect of my hero. Zabuza Momochi, of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist!"

"Seven Ninja swordsmen? Who are they?" Kenji inquired.

"The seven ninja swordsmen are a group of shinobi from the land of water. They all specialise in swordsmanship and they're feared world wide as the greatest swordsmen in history. They're brilliant but I'm going to be better!" Kana beamed.

"Cool but ah…" Kenji began.

"Yeah, what?" Kana asked dumbfounded by the fact that Kenji wasn't impressed.

"It's just; you want to surpass them don't you?" Kana nodded. "Then why are you dressing like Zabuza? I mean shouldn't you be wanting to make your own image instead of dressing up like him. I mean people would just call you some sort of copy cat if you do. You'll never leave Zabuza's shadow if you don't, everyone will just associate you with him all the time."

Kana stopped walking. Kenji was right, he'd never be considered a better swordsmen if he kept dressing up as Zabuza like some fan boy. He was going to have to create his own image, his own name. A name the silent killer of the mist would give his left hand to have. "You know what Kenji. You're right. I'm going to make my own style; I'm going to make my own name!" he announced. "You know you're actually pretty smart for a ten year old. No wonder you were allowed to take the Genin exams after only six months."

Blushing once again Kenji managed to mumble out his gratitude. "Thanks."

The three continued walking together until they reached Yuji's house. Leading them inside Yuji lead them to his room and then down to his workshop. Showing off Kana's sword to Kenji, as well as other creations of his, he was interrupted by the shrieking voice of a young girl. "There you are onii-sama you've been out all day you know, I was beginning to get worried."

"Not need to worry Suzume-Chan" He assured her. "I was just hanging out with Kana and Kenji. Oh by the way Kenji this is Suzume and Suzume this is Kenji" he introduced them.

"Nice to meet you Suzume-san" Kenji greeted. Suzume had brown shoulder length hair with two long bangs framing her face held together with two pink bows. She had brown eyes and wore a black and grey striped dress.

"Nice to meet you too Kenji. No need to be so formal by the way, you're one of Yuji's friends so you must be a good guy so you're okay by me" she asserted.

"Ah right" Kenji was a little uneasy with the girls bubbly personality but she seemed okay.

"Hey Suzume I heard you finished with the hilt designs!" Kana exclaimed.

"Yeah it was pretty tricky but I managed to do it. It's all up to Yuji to hurry and finish working with the blade now" she confirmed.

"Cool, so when you gonna finish it Yuji?" Kana asked the blacksmith.

"I'll finish it up tomorrow morning. I would do it tonight but my mission took a lot out of me today so I'll go to bed early tomorrow and get started then" Yuji verified.

"Yeah okay cool" Kana agreed.

"Hey Senpai, Kaida-sensei never told us what time our mission was meant to start tomorrow" Kenji interjected.

"Hey you're right… Oh well we'll call around her place tomorrow morning and see" Yuji assured him.

"You know where she lives?" Kenji enquired.

"Yeah I asked my brother Haruko yesterday, he told me she lives down in the apartment complex's down at the edge of the residential districts near the Kusakage's house. So meet me here at about eight tomorrow morning and we'll walk down there" Yuji corroborated. Kenji nodding his understanding while Suzume spoke up.

"Speaking of Haruko, he's not going to be here tonight. He's off on an overnight mission somewhere" Suzume informed her older brother.

"Is he on a dangerous mission?" Yuji asked.

"No he's just leading a group of Chunin on a C rank mission somewhere" she replied.

"Oh ok, any word on his application into the ANBU yet?" Yuji inquired. Suzume shook her head. "Ok then."

The rooms attention was diverted over to kana would accidentally knocked a shelf of swords onto himself. Thankfully he wasn't hurt but Yuji gave him a lecture about being careful in his forge which he blew off assuring him that he'd be more careful in the future before bumping into a desk and knocking a slab of iron off the desk and onto his foot.

Laughing at Kana's antiques Kenji suggested that Yuji should make something with the slab Kana had knocked down. Complying Yuji took out some kunai moulds and began to render, melt, the metal block, much to everyone's amusement. The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to silently watching Yuji go about his forging process while Kenji and Suzume occasionally made small talk.

Kana had been completely silent during the whole process; he was entranced by Yuji's work and was captivated by the red smouldering liquid. After a few more hours of small talk it was getting late and Kenji and Kana both agreed it was about time to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow Senpai" Kenji farewelled.

"Catch ya round Yuji" Kana said, waving him goodbye and disappearing behind a corner.

"See ya Kana!" Yuji called out after him. "See you tomorrow Kohai."

"See ya Kenji" Suzume seen him off.

"See ya Suzume-san" Kenji waved. Disappearing around the opposite corner than Kana.

"He's nice" Suzume informed her brother. "He's also closer to my age then your other friends so I can hang around him more then I do them."

"You like him don't you Suzume-Chan" Yuji teased his sister.

"So what if I do" declared Suzume, punching her brother in the stomach before continuing inside. Leaving Yuji clutching his stomach before falling to the ground and closing the door on him.

* * *

"No way, I can't believe it" Atsuko announced. "Why would anyone want to kill your grandfather?"

"I don't know" Misato notified her. "I'm not even completely sure that they want to kill him. It's just what your sensei suspected, we have no proof. I just need to know if you're going to back me up with this if it turns out to be true."

"Of course I will!" Atsuko confirmed. "We're best friends. I'd do anything for you, you know that."

"Thanks Atsuko that means a lot to me" Misato embraced her friend into a hug before pulling away. "But we're going to have to train really hard everyday if we want to even stand a chance against Jonin. We have to advance as quickly as possible"

"Right, so when do we start?" Atsuko inquired.

"Right now!" Misato declared. "We'll practise our transformation, clone and fireball jutsu and then we'll run a couple of kilometres."

"Wha!" Atsuko complained.

"No complaining! Now perform the fireball jutsu!" Misato barked pointing towards the lake.

Sighing, Atsuko took a position by the lake and prepared for the fireball jutsu. Taking a deep breathe she was about to cast the jutsu before a blot of pink caught her eye. "Hey check it out Misato-Chan. Ogawa-san is swimming here!" she informed her.

"It's probably best we head over to one of the training grounds then" Misato supposed.

"Yeah probably, wouldn't want to accidentally roast her now would we" Atsuko joked earning her a chuckle from Misato.

"Guess not" Misato agreed and with that the two girls made their way over to the training fields for some intense exercise.

**To be continued**

* * *

This was a difficult chapter to write actually. I knew what I wanted to write but I didn't know how to get from point A to point B. I think I did ok though. Next chapter will be team 1's first mission.

Please read and Review.


	9. Chapter 9: C Ranked Mission

Just so everyone knows, I'll only write numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.) when I write the time, date or a squad number (squad 1). In rare cases money as well.

* * *

Kenji groaned in agony as he fell onto his bed. It was 10:30 at night and he had just returned from his first day as a shinobi, his team successfully completing three 'missions.' Although being a shinobi and fulfilling one of his dreams Kenji was really let down by the nature of the missions he was being assigned.

After meeting up with Yuji at his place at eight in the morning, as agreed, the two of them made their way over to Kaida's place, catching her as she was just returning from some early morning training. After apologising for her absentmindedness, Kaida suggested that they leave then and there to go and request a mission from the Kusakage, picking Misato up along the way. Agreeing, the three ninja made their way over to the Katsuragi clan's manor, once again catching the individual returning from early morning training.

Arriving at the Kusakage's office, they had a short wait before being ushered before the man. Being offered several D rank missions the squad selected a mission locating a lost dog. Following a short briefing, the squad quickly made their way to the residential districts and after only twenty minutes of searching found the canine they were looking for and returned him to the Kusakage's office, earning them a mission successfully completed as well as a small wage.

Opting for another mission while they were at it, they decided to take a mission escorting a prosperous woman while she went shopping. Thinking it was going to be a cake walk Kenji was shocked by the reality of the situation he was in. The woman was defiantly some sort of disturbed, insane mental patient. The amount of purchases she had made was staggering. Kenji couldn't see over the boxes he was carrying for the woman, same as Yuji, and after two hours of torment the woman withdrew from the centre, calling it a 'small shop.' Sweat dropping, Yuji and Kenji looked at each other, nervous, and when Kaida and Misato seemed to agree with the woman's statement they were terrified.

Escorting the woman back to her home… Err, Mansion. Squad 1 procured a small wage and then reported back to the Kusakage's office. Requesting their assistance once more, as they were momentarily understaffed, the Kusakage asked them to take another mission later that evening, baby sitting for a couple while they went to dinner that night. Seeing as though the mission was six hours away, Kaida accepted on behalf of the squad.

Announcing that they were going to be training for two hours, Kaida lead the Genin over to the training fields to begin working on chakra control. Kaida demonstrated to them how to climb trees without hands, explaining the fundamentals she urged the Genin to give it a shot. Overzealously charging towards the tree, Kenji began to run up the bark only to slip after only a few steps and land on his skull. While he was moaning in pain Misato attempted to climb. Taking a decent amount of steps up the tree, the bark caved in causing her to lose her footing. She too fell towards the ground but flipped in the air and landed standing on top of Kenji, who hadn't moved or even noticed that Misato had begun her climb.

Hesitantly, Yuji began his climb up another tree, away from the now bickering Misato and Kenji. Placing one foot on the tree he tested his chakra's grip by bouncing up and down on his other foot. Satisfied he wasn't going to fall Yuji lifted his other foot off the ground and also used chakra in that foot to grip the tree.

Successfully walking up the tree without falling Yuji called to his team mates, distracting them from their argument. Kaida complemented him on his accomplishment and insisted he keep going until it became second nature to him.

A half an hour later Misato also mastered the tree climbing jutsu with Kenji quickly following suit, frustration helping him along. Another half hour passed with Yuji, Misato and Kenji practising the jutsu when Kaida suggested that they work on some Taijutsu. Kenji quickly agreed to this and jumped ecstatically in the air. Both glaring at their team mate, Misato and Yuji wondered how the kid could have so much energy as they were exhausted.

Pairing up the ninja began with some light sparing, Kenji being matched against Misato and Yuji being matched with Kaida. Even though the pretext of the exercise was for it to be light sparing, Kenji and Misato's sparing quickly escalated. Kenji was being swatted away from Misato with relative ease and it was getting to him big time.

Frustrated Kenji threw a roundhouse kick towards Misato's head to which she back stepped, smirking as she had fallen into his trap, Kenji dropped too his hand an pushed off the ground, extending his legs towards Misato's stomach. Side stepping to the left, the blow skimmed across Misato's stomach before she slammed a fist into the lower of his back. Bellowing in pain Kenji clutched his back while Misato rubbed her stomach.

Distracted by Kenji's screaming Yuji was smacked in the stomach by Kaida causing him to gasp for air and drop to the ground. After scolding him for lowering his guard Kaida moved over to Kenji who was still clutching his back. Forming some hand signs, 'Ox-Tiger', Kaida's hand glowed green. Placing her hands over Kenji, his pain was released though he didn't move until Kaida's hands stopped glowing. After informing him that he had no spinal damage Kaida suggested that Misato should probably aim for his upper back next time as Kenji was an ally not an enemy.

Calling it quits for the day after some endurance training Yuji and Kenji left to get some lunch as Misato and Kaida went off their own ways, all agreeing to meet back at the clients house at 5:50pm as their mission started at 6:00pm. After dining at a small café Yuji and Kenji agreed to go and spend some time at the hot springs so they could clean up after their training, as well as recover after their training that day.

Once they all met up at the client's house they were greeted by the couple at the door. They were to look after a five year old boy named Asa and an eight month old girl named Inari. Kenji and Yuji entertained Asa while Kaida and Misato cared for Inari. Kenji and Yuji both performed the clone jutsu causing Asa to stare at them in awe… Until Misato spat a fireball at them, destroying them. At that point Asa was staring at her in awe, much to the boy's distain.

Time flew by for Kenji and it was soon time to leave, Asa had worn himself out and was sleeping sound asleep in his bed while Inari was being fussy. The mother took her off of Kaida's hands and they said there farewells.

Kenji walked as far as he could with Yuji until he hit his apartment complex. Bidding the older boy farewell Kenji climbed the stairs of the complex, unlocked his door and then collapsed onto his bed groaning. Reminiscing of his day he quickly became fatigued and drifted into a deep slumber.

* * *

Towelling himself off Kenji exited his bathroom and pulled on his hooded jumper. It was 8:30 am. He still had an hour and a half before he was to meet up with Kaida-sensei and the others so they could request a mission. A lot of other Genin teams only took a mission every other day but Kaida seemed pretty adamant about them gaining as much experience as possible as fast as possible.

He was hoping for a C ranked mission today although he wasn't going to push the issue with the Kusakage directly, the Kusakage was to powerful a man for that. He was just going to annoy Kaida with it. She was more likely to hit him for it but she held less power then the Kusakage so she seemed like the most preferred target.

"Man I'm bored" he complained to himself aloud, slumping down onto his futon. Looking for something to do his eyes drifted over to his dining table, more accurately, the book on his dining table.

Walking over to the table he read the books title '_Make out paradise_'. He had no idea what it was about but there was only one way to find out. Opening the book and reading the first paragraph he blushed and started to giggle. Realising that an adult book somehow managed to get mixed in with his other books he had borrowed from the academy's library, he continued to read. Quickly absorbing all the information the book had to offer, which was already quite substantial.

* * *

Being the first person to arrive at the Kusakage's office, Kaida waited for her students to show up. Noticing Yuji approaching her she greeted him as he arrived. "Good morning Yuji-san. How are you today?"

Waving to her, he answered. "I'm fine thanks Kaida-sensei. Good morning." Once he got closer he bowed his respect and stood on her right.

Checking her watch she looked at the time, 9:58. Misato and Kenji had two minutes before they were late. A presence suddenly dropped down beside Kaida and without averting her gaze from her watch she spoke. "Good morning Misato-san" she greeted the presence.

"Morning Misato-san" acknowledged Yuji, bowing his respects. "Just waiting on Kohai now" he announced not bothering to wait for an answer from Misato. He knew it wasn't coming; she was always broody, in the mornings especially.

"He still has another minute if wants to avoid being late" said Kaida, lowering her arm. She leaned against the entrance of the building while waiting for her last student. After a few seconds a shadow produced itself in front of the building, getting bigger very quickly. "Bout time you got here" Kaida smirked as she spoke to the shadow.

"Howdy!" exclaimed Kenji as he landed in the centre of the shadow. "Sorry if I'm a little late, I was…" he trailed off.

"You're not late" Kaida assured him. "You made it with a whole seven seconds to spare. Now how about we go apply for a mission, huh?"

"Alright!" beamed Kenji showing his natural excited nature. "But sensei, can we have a C ranked mission today. These D ranked missions are so easy" he complained. "I'd like to see what a C rank is like."

"We'll see Kenji-san" declared Kaida. Kenji's smile spread across his face to what seemed like an unnatural length. "I'll ask the Kusakage about it, there may not be any C ranked missions available."

"Oh sure there will. This village gets mission requests all the time, there'll be something there for us" Kenji guaranteed as he walked into the building.

Following after their team mate, the rest of squad 1 entered the building. Checking with the receptionist, Kaida conducted her Genin into a waiting bay before being escorted to the Kusakage. The Kusakage's office was a large room filled with large filling cabinets over the left side and three desks at the end of the room. A large desk for the Kusakage and two smaller desks for his attendants were pushed against the sides of his.

"Ah Haru-Chan, Misato-Chan, Naka-san and Minamoto-san, it's nice to see that you're back for more today" a large, aging man greeted them from behind the Kusakage's desk. "I have to say that I truly am grateful for all the work you put in yesterday and even more grateful to see you back today. It truly goes to show the professionalism this new batch of Genin displays" the Kusakage praised.

"It was nothing Kusakage-sama. We even managed to get some training in yesterday and I must say I truly am impressed with the progress they had made yesterday alone" affirmed Kaida. "They are quite a talented bunch."

"Well then that makes what I have to ask a bit easier" the Kusakage proclaimed. Clearing his throat he continued, although he continued hesitantly. "Haru-san… Do believe your Genin squad, squad 1, is prepared for a C rank mission?" he asked.

Stealing a glance at Kenji, Kaida noticed that he was ecstatic. His prayers had seemed to be answered. Yuji was looking at Kaida expectantly while Misato had her eyes closed, apparently disinterested. Redirecting her attention towards the Kusakage, she stood straight, confident and certain. "I do believe they are prepared for a C rank Kusakage-sama. They have proven themselves to be capable shinobi and the experience would be good for them."

Pleased, the Kusakage chuckled to himself. "Very good because an argent mission has just come in. Ai-san!" he called.

Scrambling to his feet his attendant to his right saluted. "Yes Kusakage-sama!"

"Send in our guests" he ordered the Chunin.

"Yes Kusakage-sama" Ai complied and ran out of the room in search of the clients, closing the door behind him.

"So what kind of mission is this?" Kaida inquired. "Is this an escort mission?"

"No, this isn't an escort mission" he informed her. "This is a-" he was cut off by a knock on the door. "Come in" he called after the perpetrator.

"Kusakage-sama, Mr and Mrs Wantanabe are here" Ai informed the Kusakage as he entered, gesturing the couple behind him. The man had short white hair, hazel eyes and wore a black sleeveless shirt with white trimming, showing his muscles, and long blank pants. On his shirt was the logo for the 'Goods, orders and services association', GOSA. The woman had shoulder length lavender hair, auburn eyes and wore a wire tank top and a black miniskirt.

"Good, good. Squad 1, I'd like you to meet Wantanabe Goro-san and Wantanabe Kagami-san" introduced the Kusakage.

"It's nice to meet you" Yuji and Kenji bowed their respects for their clients.

"It's nice to meet you too" Kagami politely assured. "May I ask of you your names?"

"Of course" answered Kaida. "My name is Haru Kaida. This is Minamoto Kenji, Naka Yuji and Katsuragi Misato" she indicated each individual as she spoke.

Goro was less then impressed though. "You really think that this matter should be handled by kids?" he accused.

"Goro-san" The Kusakage began. "These children are shinobi, they'll be able to handle it and besides Haru-san is a Jonin. She is more then capable to handle this task" he reassured the man. Goro just scoffed at his words, not believing that the Genin would be able to handle such a task. His wife squeezed his arm in an attempt of reassurance as well as in an attempt to calm him.

"Perhaps you should outline the mission for us now Kusakage-sama" Kaida intervened.

"Yes, you are right Kaida-Chan" the Kusakage concurred. "This is a rescue operation. Goro-san's son was kidnapped from a local park yesterday afternoon. At first the Wantanabe's believed their son to have wandered off and they reported it to the police but a ransom note delivered to them early this morning suggests otherwise."

When she heard the ransom note being mentioned Kagami produced the note from a pocket of her mini skirt and handed it to Kaida. Quickly glancing over the message she handed it over to Yuji, Kenji and Misato to read. The note read: _We have your son, if you want him back bring 200,000 ryo to the 'day's end inn' at the boarder of Kusa and Fire country on the 8__th__ of July at midday. You can guess what will happen to him if you don't bring the money._

"Are you sure this mission should be ranked as a C rank mission?" Yuji spoke up. "I mean this seems like it should be ranked as an A rank mission or at least a B rank."

"Indeed, that would be the case if the kidnapping was carried out by a ninja but we have reason to believe that a bandit, by the name of Ine Aoi, was the perpetrator of the kidnapping. He was rumoured to be in the area and was spotted by a civilian in the vicinity of the park around the time of the kidnapping. We have also matched the handwriting to him" the Kusakage replied.

"And besides…" Goro began. Clenching his fists so hard his knuckles whitened he began to sob. "We don't have the money to pay for an A or B rank mission. If we did we would have just paid the man without ever coming here. This is all we can do."

Comforting her husband Kagami swung the arm she was latched onto. Satisfied Goro wasn't going to cry, she walked over to squad 1. "Our son means everything to us" she explained. Bowing she pleaded with the shinobi. "Please, please save him.'

Looking at her squad, Kaida could see the desperation in their eyes. They really did want to help. Cursing how soft she had become she signed, giving in. "We'll do our best" she confirmed on behalf of her squad.

"Thank you" appreciated Kagami. "Thank you so much."

"You know what you have to do and where you have to go?" the Kusakage inquired. Receiving nods from the squad he continued. "Good, then just too finally clarify. Squad 1, your mission is to rescue Wantanabe Ayumu and detain Ine Aoi as well as any other individuals that may be involved." Handing Kaida a picture of the boy he allowed them to go. "Dismissed."

Bowing their respects the members of squad 1 exited the room, leaving the Wantanabe's in the presence of the Kusakage.

Outside the building Kaida addressed her squad. "Alright squad 1 listen up. We're going into a situation that may turn violent. You have half an hour to make any preparations you may need. We'll meet up at the village entrance then and make up a plan." Receiving nods of understanding she dismissed the Genin and went back to her place to grab some extra kunai, shuriken and also some scrolls she had stowed away.

Using the 'body flicker jutsu' she appeared at the village entrance. Misato and Kenji were both already there waiting for her. They had gone straight to the entrance from the Kusakage's office already being prepared. All she was waiting for now was Yuji.

* * *

Running as fast as his feet could take him, Yuji sped down the streets of the residential district to his house. _I've got to learn the body flicker jutsu from Kaida-sensei_ he pondered to himself. Reaching his front door Yuji burst in and ran up the stairs to reach his room, thankful his brother was away and wouldn't mistake him for some sort of burglar by accident.

Reaching his wardrobe he opened it doors to reveal all his clothing but he wasn't interested in the shirts and pants. All he was interested in was his jacket. It was black like the rest of his clothing but had fluffy trimming around the collar and on the ends of his sleeves. Quickly slipping it on, he ran down to his basement and opened the draw. Pulling out two bandanas, one black and one purple, he fixed the black, smaller, one onto his head, his ponytail set within it, and fixed the larger purple around his waist.

Signing as he walked over to the swords he had crafted. They were set on a shelf across from the desk. Adorning a sword holster to his back Yuji picked one of the swords up. It was a mid length blade, nothing to special about it although the guard protruded upwards into a shape that made it look something like a spider and the pommel extended downwards in a similar fashion. Sheathing his sword Yuji turned to exit his basement/forge only to be stopped.

"You said you'd only wear that jacket and use that sword if you were going to be fighting someone or something onii-sama" Suzume stated, her tone glum. "So are you?" she inquired.

"Maybe" he replied. "Nothing to dangerous on a C rank mission though and besides Kaida-sensei will be there so there's no need to worry. Remember what Haruko said about her the other night."

"He said she was regarded as legendary within the ranks of shinobi" she recalled. "That she was one of the four sentinels of Kusa along with Seito-san, Kaemon-sama and the Kusakage. She was renowned for her incredible stamina and work with cats."

"Yeah, that's what he said" Yuji validated. "So there's no need to worry." Embracing his sister in a short hug he bid his sister farewell and then made his way to the village entrance.

After he had left Suzume remained at the doorway of the forge and spoke to herself. "I'm your sister Onii-sama. I'm supposed to be worried."

* * *

"How much longer until he's late Kaida-sensei?" asked Kenji, fairly impatient?

Looking down at her watch Kaida relayed the information. "He's got about five minutes left. When he gets here we'll work out a small strategy we can use, which we'll revise when we arrive."

"Why will we have to revise when we get there?" Kenji inquired.

"We don't know the conditions" Misato explained. "Ai has had sufficient enough time to prepare himself for an ambush, also we don't know if he's working alone or if he's working in a group. Once we reach the inn we'll be able to do some reconnaissance and adjust the plan accordingly."

"Oh, yeah I get it" Kenji confirmed, nodding his under standing. Turning to face the residential district he noticed Yuji was running towards them. "Hey Senpai, cool sword!" he exclaimed.

Panting to catch his breathe Yuji skidded to a halt in front of his squad. "Thanks, sorry to keep you guys waiting" he apologised.

"Don't worry about it" Kaida insisted. "Now let's decided what course of action to take. First off; are we going to attempt to free Ayumu at the exchange or are we going to free him before then?"

"I think we should free him before the exchange at noon" Yuji stated. "If anything we're losing a major advantage if we decide to attempt to retrieve Ayumu during the day."

"Yuji's right" Misato verified. "We're Shinobi; we're supposed to be active during the night. It increases our stealth."

"Alright then that's what we'll do. The exchange is at the 'days end inn' so there's probably a high chance of Ai staying there."

"What? Why would he stay at the place where the exchange is set to take place? Isn't that a little… Stupid?" asked a bewildered Kenji.

"Hehe, Ine Ai is known for being remarkably unremarkable. He's an idiot so that works to our advantage" Kaida informed the Genin. "So it should be a safe bet that he's there."

"And if he's not?" inquired Misato.

"Then he should eventually show up there at least. And if he doesn't we'll have to go looking for him" Kaida casually explained.

"And if we can't find him?" cautiously asked Kenji.

"We fail our mission" Kaida bluntly asserted. Kenji and Yuji looked disheartened by her words and, feeling like she should cheer them up, Kaida continued. "But I'm not going to let us fail. This is our first C rank mission together; the first time you'll get a taste of what it's really like to be a ninja. This is special so I'm not gonna let us fail this mission, okay?" She winked innocently awaiting their reply.

"Okay!" Kenji and Yuji shouted in unison, spirits revived.

"Let's go then" directed Kaida, taking to the trees. As her students followed her she gave their instructions. "The plan is this: when we get there we'll perform some reconnaissance, locate Ayumu and Ai, then we'll make our move and rescue the kid. Remember rescuing Ayumu takes priority over everything, capturing Ai can wait until after we've got Ayumu safely away from him."

"Got it Kaida-sensei, don't worry" Kenji assured her. "We'll definitely save him!"

"Let's hope so" Kaida prayed. _A lot of things can go wrong really fast_ she thought to herself. _Let's just hope they don't. _

Shaking off the negative thoughts in her head Kaida continued on her way towards the 'days end inn' with her students in toe.

**To be continued.**

* * *

End of Chapter. Shorter then usual but I felt like the chapter should end here. Next chapter is gonna be fun to write, things go wrong etc. etc. You know the typical story line thing.

Please read and review.


	10. Chapter 10: Things Go Wrong

Bounding through the tree tops Kenji was trembling with anticipation. The group had been travelling for nine hours and it was already dark. It looked as though there would be no moon tonight, an advantage in its own right but still Kenji's eyes weren't as adjusted to the darkness as Yuji's and Misato's and they definitely weren't as adjusted as Kaida's and he would scrap up against a low branch every so often, grazing his skin.

The excitement was too much for him at times and he would unintentionally speed up and get ahead of everyone. Kaida would reprimand him for this and then cite that he doesn't even know where he's going. Waving it off he insisted that he was just anxious and wanted to save Ayumu as soon as possible. Something to which they all agreed but Kaida insisted that he should pace himself; as the others would not be able to keep up with his youthful energy.

"Alright guys we're almost there!" Kaida announced. "Aoi should be up ahead somewhere. If he travelled through the night without rest he should already be there but if he stopped to sleep last night, which is likely as he is carrying a child with him, we should be ahead of him. It takes a hell of a lot longer for a normal person to reach the Inn on foot from Kusa then it does a ninja so we may be able to set a trap or set up an ambush for him if that's the case."

"Yeah but if he did rest shouldn't we have found him by now?" Misato reminded Kaida. "We're also overlooking the possibility that he doesn't even have the kid with him. He could have just heard that the kid was missing and wrote up the ransom note as a means to filch some money."

Pondering Misato's words Kaida spoke. "While that is a possibility, we have to carry out this mission under the pretence that Aoi does indeed have Ayumu and has every intention in harming the child. We can ask Aoi latter if he doesn't have him in the mean time concentration is paramount."

"So how much longer until we reach the inn Kaida-sensei?" Kenji interjected.

"It's right up ahead" she informed him as the group paused at the tree line bordering the Inn. The 'Days End Inn' was a large building which appeared to have its own hot springs. Large cherry blossoms were positioned at the entrance but they seemed to be in poor shape.

Noticing that some unruly looking thugs had entered the building Kaida spoke with her team. "Hey guys I'm going to go in and ask the reception if they've seen Ayumu. Here this is a picture of the kid" she announced as she produced the picture of the boy and handed it to the Genin to look over. Ayumu was a small boy with short peach blonde hair. His eyes were hazel and he appeared to be pale. "If you see him or someone who looks like him tell me and we'll check it out" she proclaimed.

Retrieving the picture from her students Kaida leapt from the tree and entered the building. Misato took command in her absence and ordered the two boys to spread out across the tree line so they could get a better view of the Inn but told them to remain in her sights for safety reasons.

Kenji took to Misato's left while Yuji took to her right. Yawning out of boredom Kenji noticed a group of three thugs walk past. All of them were bald and muscular and all of them just reeked of stupid. _I'm ten and I'm probably smarter then those guys _Kenji mused to himself. Noticing Kaida was returning from the building he made his way back over to Misato, as did Yuji.

When Kaida reached the trees the Genin dropped down to her level. "Is he in there?" Misato asked her sensei.

"Yes the reception saw Ayumu go in about a half hour ago. He was accompanied by a man fitting Aoi's description who claimed to be the boys' father. They're in room number thirty seven."

Misato didn't seem convinced and raised a sceptical eyebrow. "And they just told you this? How do you know it's not a lie?"

"Well…" Kaida began, giggling mischief. "The receptionist wouldn't tell me anything at first. So I used a little Genjutsu to loosen her tongue and after that it was fairly easy to get information from her. I even got a little money out of it."

"Isn't that stealing?" Kenji interjected.

"Hey it's not often I get to use Genjutsu like that!" she argued. "So I got a little carried away with it, who cares it was fun!"

"Doesn't make it right…" Kenji muttered, earning him a punch to the top of his head curtesy of Kaida.

"She should have 'fessed up earlier! Anyway let's get on with what we came here to do already" Kaida demanded. "Room thirty seven, he's most likely on his own right now but we'll find out for sure when we get their. Yuji-san have you got the ear pieces from the other day with you?" she asked her student.

"Yeah and I even got you one sensei!" he informed her, pulling out a small box from his kunai pouch and handing it to her. He then pulled out another small box and handed Kenji and Misato their ear pieces and then placed the box back into his pouch.

"Excellent!" Kaida exclaimed. "And it's blue! My favourite colour!"

"Everyone's is a different colour so I can tell them apart" Yuji explained. "Mine's black, Your's is blue, Kenji's is white and Misato's is pink."

"Pink suits you Misato-Chan" Kaida teased, Misato grunting her unappreciation.

"Hehe yeah…" Yuji nervously stammered, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm afraid they were the only colours the store happened to sell. Sorry if you don't like it Misato-san." Misato didn't respond but Yuji could tell that she knew that there were more colours that the shop sold and he knew that she knew that he thought she would like the colour. _I forgot she was somewhat of a tomboy _Yuji thought to himself.

"Alright let's sync our ear pieces and then scope out the room!" Kaida instructed ignoring the tension brewing in the air. "After we scope it out we can move in and complete the mission." Kenji's excitement came to a burn; he was so ready for this! After tuning his ear piece to the frequency the rest of his squad was on he waited for Kaida to say the magic words he was so desperate to hear. "Alright let's go!"

* * *

Sitting up out of bed a young boy darted out of sleep, panting. "Go back to sleep" a hoarse voice told him. The voice belonged to a man sitting in a chair at the opposite end of the room. The boy couldn't make out any features the man had to offer as he was seated in darkness. "I said go back to sleep boy!" the voice once again demanded.

"But I have to get up soon anyway" the boy insisted. He was eight years old and wore a blue t-shirt with olive-green trimming and army camo pants held up with a black belt.

"Why would you need to get up?" the voice inquired.

"You'll see soon enough" Ayumu insisted as he lay back down on his bed. The room was silent once more until 'smash'. A log flew through the window, shattering it, with smoke quickly following and Ayumu was hoisted up and out of the room.

* * *

Misato and Kaida both took positions at the window of room thirty seven, Kaida on the left and Misato on the right. It was a second story window and Kenji and Yuji were down on the ground awaiting their instructions.

Peering in through the window, Kaida saw the image of a boy sitting up on a bed. "'Bzzt' Ayumu's position verified 'Bzzt'" Kaida announced, whispering into her ear piece.

"'Bzzt' second individual situated" Misato proclaimed as she peered into the room. "Unable to confirm identity, the individual is positioned so I can not make out any of their features 'Bzzt'."

"'Bzzt' it's probably a good bet that it's Aoi but just to be safe I'll apprehend the individual" whispered Kaida, readying some smoke grenades. "Kenji, Yuji. I need you two to break the window open for Misato and me. When the window's broken Misato and I will raid the room, Misato getting Ayumu while I seize the second party. That okay with you Kenji-san 'Bzzt'?"

"'Bzzt' are you kidding?" Kenji exclaimed while whispering into his own ear piece. "I get to break something! Next to 'Seizing the second party' that's the best thing about this mission. This is gonna be great 'Bzzt'!" Whilst he was speaking he walked over to the tree line and grabbed a large branch that had fallen and cradled it in his arms as he walked back over to Yuji.

"You've only got one shot at this Kohai" Yuji reminded him. "You mess it up and things could go wrong. You sure you don't want me to do it?"

"What and let you have all the fun? Never!" Kenji cried. "Actually now that I think of it… 'Bzzt' Hey Kaida sensei, is it really okay for us to break the window? Won't the Inn's owners be pissed? 'Bzzt'"

"'Bzzt' yeah it's okay, they'll never know it's us" she assured him. "Anyway after I hand in the missions report it becomes the Kusakage's problem. Not mine 'Bzzt'"

"'Bzzt' Okay…" Kenji went along with her. "But just so everyone knows I'm not one hundred percent with this. Alright now time for some smashing 'Bzzt'!"

_Yeah you're really not okay with this are you Kenji_ Kaida mused to herself as the boy raised the branch into the air. He used one hand to steady the branch and brought his other hand back behind his head so he could put more power into his throw. Extending his back hand forward he threw the branch like a javelin. It flew straight and true, smashing the window open and Kaida and Misato followed soon after.

Ejecting some of her chakra from her body, Kaida fully smashed the window to allow them easier access while simultaneously throwing the smoke grenades at the rooms' second occupant, encasing them in smoke.

Glancing towards her student she noticed Misato had swept Ayumu up and out of the bed he was laying in and was on her way out. She then quickly withdrew a reel of string from her Kunai pouch, and using the string manipulating jutsu, she tied up the unidentified man.

Waiting for the smoke to clear she heard Yuji through her ear piece. "'Bzzt' we've got Ayumu safe and clear, what of the status of the room's second occupant 'Bzzt'?"

When the smoke had almost completely cleared she seen the silhouette of the man tied and bound on the ground. She was about to call in that she had him pinned down when she caught a glimpse of something out the corner of her eye.

A man was lying on the ground next to the bed. His throat had been cut and he looked as though he had just been recently killed. As the smoke cleared she had seen that the dead man was in fact Aoi. "Well, well. What do we have here?" a gruff voice spoke behind her. Turning around she seen that in place of a bound and captured man on floor, an alarm clock was encased in wire on the ground. _A substitution! _She inwardly screamed to herself while forming the 'Ram' hand sign.

Disappearing in a cloud of smoke she reappeared outside by her squad. "Quickly!" she insisted to the gobsmacked Genin. "We have to-" she began only to be interrupted by the voice from before.

"Too late!" it interjected. Facing the perpetrator Kaida seen three people staring her down. "Look at what we have here Akumu, some shinobi have done gone and kidnapped our kidnapped Ayumu" it continued. The voice belonged to a tall man with long blonde hair that covered his eyes. He wore an open red hooded t-shirt, long black-green pants, a studded belt with dog tags hanging from it and black boots. Tattoo's covered the upper half of his body and bandages covered his hands. The man looked over at a boy standing to his right as he spoke.

The boy didn't respond to his words and kept his gaze forward towards squad 1. Said boy was clad completely in black with matching long hair, his bangs reaching far below his face. He wore a hooded jacket with cat ears protruding from the top of the hood, long black pants and black sneakers. Unlike the rest of his companions he seemed rather pale.

"Don't bother talking to him Katto-sama" a female to the mans left insisted. "You know he doesn't talk to anyone." The girl was carrying a guitar on her back and looked no older then seventeen. She had short brown hair and wore a small black tank top and army camo pants, similar but darker then Ayumu's, that was held up by a studded belt. "Even when we're in the sack all I get is panting from him."

"A bit too much information Kotone" claimed Katto in a disgruntled tone of voice. Turning his attention back towards squad 1 Katto continued. "Alright hand the kid back over to us and we'll let you go unharmed" he demanded.

"As if!" an infuriated Kaida barked. "How about you leave and we'll let you go unharmed!"

"Do you even know who you're messing with little lady!" Katto insulted.

"Do you?" Kaida spat.

"I know" Akumu interjected, shocking squad 1 as well as his fellow companions. "You are Haru Kaida, one of the sentinels of Kusa. You use cats to aid you in battle and are hailed as the unyielding princess."

Stunned the cat boy knew who she was Kaida managed to stammer out a few more words. "Yeah that's me. You really want to test me out?"

Ignoring the woman Katto turned his attention back towards Akumu. "That really her?" he asked. Receiving a nod from the boy Katto smirked and turned his attention back towards Kaida. "I can't believe my good luck, there's a big bounty on your head girl, a bounty that will soon be mine. So how about you die now willingly instead of having me work for it, you know to make my job easier."

"No dice" hissed Kaida. "If you insist on fighting it'll be you who dies here, not me. So how about you come with me willingly, there's a bounty on your head as well that I wouldn't mind having."

Sighing Katto spoke. "Well it looks like we both want the bounty on each others heads then don't we? Alright let's have some fun!" he proposed, materialising a pair of Nekode on his hands seemingly out of thin air.

"Misato!" Kaida shouted at the girl. "You have the lead; get Ayumu out of here and to Kusa! Kenji, Yuji, You go with her!" she ordered

"Right!" Misato obeyed and began to lead the boys out of the area only to be cut off by the girl, Kotone.

"Not so fast!" she bellowed charging towards them, kunai drawn, with Akumu in toe. Kaida lunged forward towards them and effectively threw Kotone out of the way and into Katto, who had tried to follow her and attack from behind. Misato in turn lunged towards Akumu with her own Kunai, slashing out towards the boy. Akumu sidestepped out of the way but his arm was sliced, slitting his skin and making him bleed. As he flinched in pain Misato followed up with a roundhouse kick to the stomach. Sending him flying for a few meters before he skidded to a halt.

"Katto quickly recovered and moved to cut off Kaida and her Genin from fleeing. Kaida countered by conjuring fifteen shadow clones. "Really that's all you're going to do?" barked Katto as he formed the 'Tiger' hand sign. "Water clone jutsu" he shouted and nine clones of Katto materialised as water twisted and formed his image. Katto and his clones sped toward Kaida, her clones and her charges, slashing through them with the Nekode on their hands.

Smirking as he bathed in his victory he quickly came back down to earth as all the clones as well Kaida, the Genin and even Ayumu disappeared in a puff of smoke. "She must have used the shadow clone a second time as our vision of her was obscured from the cloud of the first" Kotone enlightened him. "She then must have used a transformation jutsu to take the image of her Genin squad as well as the other kid."

"Yeah but how'd she get away?" Katto demanded an answer from his companion.

"She must have used earth style jutsu to travel underground" Kotone rationalised. "She is one of the four sentinels after all. This is not beyond her abilities."

"Great now she's probably on her way towards Kusa, no pay day for us then" Katto pouted. "First that idiot Aoi screws up and kidnaps the wrong kid and then the kid gets rescued by some damn Kusa Genin. This really pisses me off!"

"Well… maybe all isn't lost" Kotone alleged while looking over the ground. "Are here we go!" she exclaimed as she wondered over to a small tremor in the ground.

"What is it?" Katto inquired walking over to her whilst dismissing his clones.

"Our dear Kaida-Chan left this for us" she remarked. "She couldn't travel towards Kusa, and inadvertently towards us, because we'd discover her little plan and then be able to pursue her so she had to travel in the opposite direction, towards fire country."

"Hehe, so we can still claim our little bounty then. How nice" he chuckled to himself." She's even decided to make our carrying her to the bounty station easier by heading towards it herself, how very nice of her."

"Yes it is quite lucky of us isn't it? If she get close enough we may even be able to take her there alive and collect the larger bounty on her head" Kotone contemplated. "Hey what ever happened to Akumu-kun? He was right behind me at one stage and then he wasn't."

"He's right over there, grovelling in the dirt" Katto indicated behind him with his thumb. "Hey Akumu!" he called while he and Kotone walked over to him. "What're you doing?"

Akumu didn't respond. He was kneeling on the ground clutching the upper of his right arm. When Katto and Kotone stopped and stood behind him he lifted his left hand from his arm and held it in front of him. "Oh no!" Kotone exclaimed as she kneeled down to tend to Akumu's wound. "That bitch Kaida hurt my Akumu-kun!" The hand was indeed covered in blood and the cut on his arm began to stain his clothes as Kotone began to mutter revenge.

"No" Akumu cut into Kotone's illegible nervous rant of revenge. "It was the other one who cut me. The Genin."

"You were cut by a Genin?" Kotone asked disgusted with what he had just told her. "You're a Chunin level shinobi, if not higher and you let a Genin cut you?"

"What was her name?" Katto asked, ignoring Kotone.

"The darkness whispered to me that her name was 'Katsuragi Misato'" Akumu reported to his companion.

"Katsuragi huh? They're a pretty big clan in Kusa, we may be able to ransom her off to them for a hefty price" Katto considered. "What about the other two?"

"The darkness informed me that the bandannaed one was named Naka Yuji" said Akumu.

"Never heard of him" Katto alleged. "And the other one?"

"The darkness held no name for him" stammered Akumu, flinching in pain as Kotone tightened a bandage over his wound.

"What? Impossible!" cried Katto.

"Improbable yes but not impossible" Kotone told him. "Akumu's jutsu reads the darkness in people's aura's to gain information about that person. If the kid doesn't have darkness in his aura then Akumu can't read him" she explained.

"So what are you telling me that he's pure light? That's impossible!" Katto barked.

"Once again it's improbable not impossible" she stated. "It's actually more likely that he's under the influence of some chakra effecting jutsu."

"Right well when we catch the kid we'll check him out and see what it is. I have to say this is beginning to peak my interest" Katto admitted.

"Mine too, I'd like to see the jutsu that can deceive the Kurayami clan's darkness jutsu" Kotone agreed. "Although… I don't think Akumu would agree with us. I think he's only got one thing on his mind." Peering over to Akumu Katto noticed the way he was glaring at the bandage on his arms.

"Hahaha" Katto cackled. "It appears you're right Kotone. He does only have one thing on his mind."

* * *

Squad 1 regrouped inside a cave a few hundred meters from where Kaida had resurfaced. "You want to tell us who those guys are Kaida-Sensei?" Kenji solicited. Kaida looked over her squad. Yuji was trying to catch his breathe while Misato was tending to Ayumu. Gazing at Kenji she could see the intensity in his eyes. He was pretty mad but so was she.

"Alright listen up squad 1" she requested. "Those guys from before are rouge ninja from the village hidden in the waterfall, Takigakure. The big guy's name is Bureido Katto; he's a Jonin level shinobi and a vicious one at that. The one with the cat ears is Kurayami Akumu; a Chunin level shinobi and the girl is Takaki Kotone another Chunin level shinobi."

"How do you know who they are?" asked Yuji. "Are they really that strong that they're listed up high in the ANBU's bingo book?"

"Well no" Kaida consented. "They're not too high up in there, not top ten anyway but it's just that they were only recently classed as rouge ninja. Really it's only by chance that I stumbled across their page, good for us I did though isn't it?" she joked.

"So they only just recently defected? That's bad" Misato stated.

"Why is it a bad thing Misato-Chan?" Kenji asked her, confused.

"Well if they only just defected it means they're still strong, that they haven't been beaten down by the village's tracker ninja" Misato answered. "It means we have less of a chance of getting home if they've decided to pursue us."

"Don't speak like that!" cried Yuji.

"It's true" argued Misato.

"Alright that's enough of that!" demanded Kaida. "Listen I will make sure you guys get home even if I don't you hears me. Don't worry; you'll see your families again."

"What about you sensei?" questioned Kenji. "What about your family?"

"I don't have one" Kaida smiled. "If I die I'll only have you guys to cry for me, although I don't think that Misato would, right Misato-Chan?" Misato huffed her objection. "Anyway… Two people crying at my funeral beats having your friends and family crying at yours, so really me dieing seems like the logical option."

"That's a terrible thing to say!" Yuji scolded her.

"Don't worry Yuji-san it's not like I plan on dieing, in fact…" Kaida began. "If I was on my own without having to worry about your safety, I reckon I could take them… All of them at once."

"Really sensei?" Kenji enquired. "But he's a Jonin like you and he has two Chunin to back him up. Would you really be able to take them on by yourself?"

"Hey you heard Akumu right? I'm known as the unyielding princess, I could take them. Wouldn't take me much longer then an hour either" she asserted.

"You're a bit old to be a princess aren't you?" Kenji muttered to himself.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Kaida exclaimed, angry.

"Nothing, Nothing!" Kenji assured her, his hands raised in defence and sweat dropping.

"Damn straight nothing!" she snarled. "Anyway… We should probably arrange some sort of lookout. Considering that they're less likely to find us anytime soon, you guys can take first watch. In three hours wake me up and I'll take the rest of the night."

"What'll we do if they show up while you're asleep?" Kenji asked.

"Don't worry Kenji-san" Ayumu assured him. Having just spoken for the first time, all eyes drifted towards him. "They won't find you until morning" he proclaimed.

"And how do you know that?" Kenji questioned him raising an eyebrow. "And even more importantly, how do you know my name? I don't remember telling you."

"I seen it" he replied. "When I sleep I sometimes dream of the future. I sometimes have visions you may put it. Either way I didn't see him until it was day light so we're safe tonight."

"Yeah okay then riddle me this Mr. Psychic. Did we get back to Kusa in your vision?" Kenji asked rather rudely.

"Sorry. In my dream I only seen up until they found us" Ayumu apologised.

"Well that's just great" Kenji sarcastically stated.

"Alright Kenji-san that's enough" Kaida reprimanded. "Here let's get a fire going and then I'll get some sleep and you guys can wake me at eleven and then you can get some sleep." After summoning some shadow clones to gather some fire wood, Kaida pulled out a scroll and unrolled it across the cave floor. Exerting some chakra into the scroll she summoned two large double beds. "I had a feeling that we were going to be going on an over night mission so I prepared" she explained as her clones returned with some fire wood.

After stacking the wood the clones disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Misato-san, if you would be so kind" Kaida requested. Walking over to the pile of wood Misato put her right index finger and thumb to her mouth and spat forth a small fireball. "Fire style: small fire stream" Kaida proclaimed. "You're becoming quite adept with fire jutsu Misato-san" She praised. Misato just grunted her appreciation.

"Won't the fire give away our position?" Yuji pointed out.

"Here I'll fix that" Kaida asserted. Rasing her hand Kaida began to release chakra into the air causing the entrance of the cave to warp and then return to normal. "It's the Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Jutsu" she informed the awestricken Yuji. "Now we can see out but they can't see in. They'd be able to see the Genjutsu if they get close enough but other then that we should be fine. I can teach it to you when we get back if you want?" she offered.

"Yes sensei!" Yuji excitedly agreed. "That would be great!"

"Excellent, well now then if you don't mind I'm going to get to sleep. Remember wake me up at eleven" Kaida reminded them. "But before I go to sleep I better give you some help I suppose." Placing her hands into a 'Tiger' seal she began to build up her chakra then biting her thumb, causing it to bleed; she slammed her hand on the ground and shouted "Summoning Jutsu!"

Suddenly there was a large cloud of smoke in the cave that quickly dispersed and in its place stood three large cats. "Squad 1, plus Ayumu, I'd like to introduce Sokudoko, Pansako and Inazumako." Sokudoko was a large black panther, obviously female by how she presented herself. She had blue eyes, a white diamond shaped mark in the centre of her forehead, a large white star mark on her chest and a smaller white star mark on tail. Her tail was also thinker then the average panthers and seemed like it was aquatic.

Pansako was also a large black panther but was obviously male. He had auburn eyes and was covered in piercings. His tail had two large rings piercing at the base and three small studs near the tip. The insides of his legs were also studded as was his ears. His left ear however bore only one stud and a ring as opposed to his right although it was ripped in the centre. His tail also fuzzed into a red quiff at the tip and he had two scars across his right eye.

Inazumako was a large white tiger; he was male like Pansako and obviously was the current leader with how Pansako and Sokudoko cowered behind him. He stood taller then Kaida and had red piercing eyes. "Kaida-sama" he spoke. "Why have you summoned us? Is there a problem?"

"Yes I'm afraid there is" Kaida replied. "As of right now were have three shinobi tailing us; one Jonin and two Chunin."

"I suppose this is your Genin team" Pansako interrupted. "Are you sure you should have brought them on a mission as dangerous as this?" he asked.

"Well this was supposed to be a C ranked rescue mission" Kaida bashfully answered him. "It just unfortunately went south and now we have some shinobi on our ass."

"Well that seems a better excuse. This mission should now be classed as an A rank mission" Pansako acknowledged. "Give us the details of your mission as well as the details of who's chasing us."

"We were sent on rescue mission to liberate this boy 'she gestured Ayumu', his name is Wantanabe Ayumu and he was kidnapped by a man named Ine Aoi" Kaida began to explain.

"The mission should have been classed as a B rank mission straight from the start!" Sokudoko exclaimed. "That Kusakage is always classing missions lower then they should be classed. Sure I'm all for trying to attract more clients to the village but come on. Cases like this where people lives could be at stake should be handled by Chunin level shinobi at the very least."

"Agreed Sokudoko-san but right now that isn't something to be concerned with" she pointed out. "The shinobi chasing us are rouge ninja from Takigakure. The leaders name is Bureido Katto and his companions are Takaki Kotone and Kurayami Akumu."

"Bureido Katto… Isn't he the man who tried to assassinate the waterfall village's leader a few weeks ago?" Inazumako questioned, receiving a nod from Kaida. "Pffft what a fool!" he yelped.

"I'm more worried about the Kurayami human" Sokudoko cut in. "The rumour is that members of the Kurayami clan possess the kekkei genkai for dark release Ninjutsu. It's also rumoured that the Kurayami clan was wiped out during Bureido's coup d'etat attempt."

"I didn't hear that rumour" Kaida admitted. "But it is possible that Taki is covering up the fact that the clan was destroyed. It was a highly praised clan if word got out Iwagakure, Otagakure and possibly even Kusagakure may consider invading."

"Isn't Kusagakure allied with Takigakure?" asked Pansako.

"No, officially we are not but considering we share a common ally, the leaf, we generally have good relations" Kaida explained, Pansako nodding his understanding.

"So how are we going to act?" inquired Inazumako?

"We're going to wait until morning before we move out. As of right now we are in fire country and we have a long way to travel if we want to reach Kusa and to make matters worse we have to go through the shinobi tailing us to get there" she explained.

"Can't we just go to Konohagakure?" asked Misato.

"No, we are allies with them but they wouldn't exactly treat us kindly if we got their. In fact we'll probably get taken out by their ANBU before we get there" Kaida informed her. "We'll try to go around Katto and his companions' tomorrow morning. In the mean time we've been travelling all day so we need to get some rest so I'm going to go to bed now. You three keep watch" she ordered the Genin. "And you guys help" she ordered the cats. "And what time are you guys going to wake me up?" asked Kaida.

"Eleven o'clock we got it already, go to bed already Kaida-sensei!" Kenji instructed.

"Alright, alright" Kaida caved. She walked over to Ayumu who had made his way over too one of the beds and fallen asleep as the others were talking and tucked him in properly. She then walked over to her bed and quickly fell asleep,

* * *

Half an hour after Kaida had fallen asleep Kenji began talking to Inazumako and Pansako. They were telling him stories about the times they had helped Kaida in battle. Pansako was even telling him about some of the missions he accompanied Kaida on during the forth great shinobi war. Kaida was just a kid at the time, fifteen, and yet she was already a Jonin along with Seito and Kaemon.

Kenji was truly amazed with the stories he was being told and even Yuji was listening in. Misato was over by the cave entrance, near the Genjutsu, along with Sokudoko. They were keeping a better watch then the others but Kenji could tell that they were paying attention to the stories Inazumako and Pansako were telling.

Time flew by for Kenji as he was listening to the summoned cats and it was soon time for them to switch with Kaida but Misato told him and Yuji to let her sleep for at least another half hour as she needed her sleep, which they agreed too.

After the half an hour had expired Sokudoko insisted that they wake her up, as she would not be happy with the Genin not following her instructions. Giving in too the indirect threat of Kaida getting angry with them Kenji walked over to Kaida's bedside, with Misato and Yuji in toe, and gently stirred her from her sleep. Kaida quickly jerked out of her sleep only to panic and punch Yuji in the stomach, leaving him clutching his stomach and falling to the ground in pain.

After apologising and claiming it could have been worse (she could have stabbed him with a kunai) she took her post along side Sokudoko, watching the forest. Yuji climbed into bed along side Ayumu while Kenji claimed that he would be more comfortable sleeping by the fire, supposedly leaving Misato to sleep in a double bed by herself but Kaida claimed that if Kenji was sleeping by the fire that the vacant place next to Misato may as well be occupied by Sokudoko, insisting that summoned animals needed to sleep as well. Sokudoko quickly agreed to this and curled up to Misato's left.

Kenji talked with Inazumako and Pansako for a while longer until he unintentionally fell asleep, leaning against Inazumako who had also accidentally fallen asleep. Pansako asked if Kaida was okay keeping watch by herself who assured him that she was and then he also fell asleep by the fire.

Kaida glanced over her should towards the sleeping Kenji whilst keeping watch and cursed herself because she didn't have a camera with her. The scene was just too cute in her opinion and not only would she be able to annoy Kenji with the photo, she would be able to annoy Inazumako with it. Sighing, she once again turned her attention towards the outside of the cave.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

Yuji: Why? Why JiMmIyZ? Why must you have someone punch me in the stomach in every chapter? I wasn't even the one who was waking her up!

JiMmIyZ: For comic relief of course!

Yuji: That's a terrible reason! I repeat, I wasn't even the one who was trying to wake her up!

JiMmIyZ: Yeah well tough, it's gonna keep happening :p

By the way in my fan fic the sound village has recovered although Orochimaru is no longer Otakage. I may or may not create a character for the Otakage and I may or may not even call the Otakage the Otakage. I don't know, although I will mention some sound Genin during the Chunin exams… But of course I'll kill them off and they won't become more then secondary characters hehe.


	11. Chapter 11: Katto's Ambush

Alright finally some 'proper' fight scenes. Not sure on how good I'm going to be but I'll try my best Maybe I should read over some other fan fics so I can get some more experience.

Wanted to go longer with this chapter but it was beginning to get to long. Unlucky really but hey, what can you do.

* * *

"Wake up!" shouted Kaida. I was a little past six in the morning and the sun had just risen. Usually Kaida would sleep in until seven but she was up all of last night keeping watch. It wasn't all bad though, she had gotten three and a half hours of sleep before she took over the watch and for the last two hours Sokudoko had been keeping her company. They didn't talk much but just knowing there was someone else awake with her helped her keep her eyes open.

Slowly the caves occupants eased themselves awake. Once remembering where he was Yuji quickly made prepared himself. Misato likewise made her preparations, quickly brushing her hair and pulling out two granola bars, one for herself and one for Ayumu who was still half asleep. Kenji on the other hand was already awake; he woke up a few minutes before the sun rose. It seemed to be routine for him as he began to stretch and work out a little as soon as he woke up.

Soon everyone was prepared, the fire was out, Kaida had sealed the beds back within the scrolls she summoned them out of and everyone had a light breakfast. "Okay let's set out now!" Kaida ordered, "we'll head east in an attempt to avoid Katto and his group but if by chance we do come across them I want you all too run while I deal with them. Understood?"

"Yes sensei" Misato and Yuji confirmed in unison.

Kenji on the other hand wasn't convinced. "Are you sure you don't need any help sensei? I mean there are three of them."

"I'll be fine Kenji-san, don't worry" she assured him. "Sokudoko-san, Pansako-san, Inazumako-san. You three are to ensure that these three as well as Ayumu-san get back to the village safe and sound, you understand?"

"It is understood Kaida-sama" Inazumako alleged. "They will make it back even if we don't."

"Alright then, Sokudoko would you mind letting Ayumu ride on your back for the trip?" asked Kaida. "It would make our moving faster." Sokudoko nodded her agreement and moved over to Ayumu and kneeled before him, allowing him access to hop onto her back. Once sitting atop the big cats back Ayumu shivered.

"You cold?" asked Kenji, Ayumu nodded his answer. "Here take this then" Kenji insisted, handing him his jacket.

Ayumu's eyes widened "But… What about you?" Ayumu asked, bewildered.

"Hey I'm always out this early in the morning. Sun, rain or snow, I'm used to it so the cold doesn't bother me" Kenji declared.

Ayumu smiled and took the jacket gratefully. "Thanks" he spoke softly, pulling the jacket over his arms. Kenji just returned the smile and made his way towards the caves exit.

Kenji giddily exited the Genjutsu barrier that was concealing them, a skip in his step, and began to shout over his shoulder to his companions who were beginning to follow him out. "Man I feel great today! I wouldn't care if that Katto guy showed up; I'd take him out in ten seconds flat!" As soon as he finished speaking however, a kunai shot out from the shrubs surrounding the trees by the cave entrance, aimed directly at his head.

Catching sight of the blade out of the corner of his eye, Kenji managed to clumsily duck under it, falling to the ground in the process. "Care to test out your theory there boy?" snarled a familiar gruff voice asked him. Bolting in shock, squad 1, as well as the three summoned cats, turned in the voices direction. Emerging from their concealment, three figures stood before them.

Katto, Kotone and Akumu had tracked them down and were now staring manically towards them, Katto at the front in the centre, Kotone a little behind him to the right and Akumu left. "Using Genjutsu to mask the entrance of the cave, I admit it's clever really" Katto complimented. "Unfortunately for you though, Kotone here happens to be a Genjutsu specialist, so your little trick was nothing more then a big 'we're here' sign to her. We've actually been watching you for a couple of hours now but we figured that we'd catch a bit of shut eye before confronting you, we've been up for the last forty nine hours you know" he said chuckling.

"Over confidence will be the death of you Katto!" glared Kaida, taking up a defensive posture. Turning her head slightly to look over to the group she continued to speak. "Alright guys, get out of here. Leave this to me!" Kaida smirked as she stared down the three enemy shinobi. She was beginning to get excited for this fight, almost looking forward to it. Kenji rose to his feet and despite his usual attitude, did not argue with his sensei. "Inazumako-san, can you sense if there is anyone else hiding in the surrounding area?" Kaida asked the big cat.

Sniffing at the air, Inazumako answered. "No Kaida-sama, there doesn't appear to be anyone in the area other then those present."

"Good" responded Kaida, eyeing the enemy shinobi again. "Now get out of here and fast, I'll ensure that these guys don't chase after you!"

"You really think you can?" Kotone sneered, moving a hand to the hilt of her guitar.

"Yeah I really do" Kaida threatened, glaring daggers at the three shinobi. A still moment passed with no one so much as lifting a finger. A small bird landed on a tree branch as time passed only to be spooked off by a snake which had attempted to eat it for lunch. When the fluttering of wings could be heard was when Kaida spoke up. "What are you guys still doing here? Get out of here, Misato you're in charge!"

"Right!" answered the group in unison, darting left, out into the tree lines.

Kotone attempted to give chase however. "Oh no you don't!" she screamed, pulling her guitar out and preparing to strum a power chord. A whirling noise to her left caught her attention however and before she could even make contact with the strings, Kaida's kunai had cut through them and almost sliced her hand off.

Turning her attention back towards Kaida, Kotone heard her speak. "Just thought I would cut you off there" she jeered, enraging Kotone who grit her teeth in frustration. "I read your file in the BINGO book, it said that you use sound Genjutsu cast through your guitar but without its strings that'll be a bit hard though wouldn't it. Actually I've read all your files in the BINGO book. So I know exactly what you're going to throw at me and how, so you can't kill me, you can't even touch me!" she taunted.

Katto seamed to ignore this though. "Kotone you fool, you let them get away!" he scolded. Kotone was surprised to hear this and turned over to where she had last seen the Kusa shinobi. Truth be told, they were now gone. "You're pathetic!" Katto continued. Kotone looked over to him in apology, seeking sympathy. Receiving none, she then turned her attention over to Akumu, who also gave nil.

Smirking, Kaida spoke. "Well now that the Genin are out of the way, how about we light things up!" she urged, withdrawing another Kunai from her pouch.

Katto stared back at her with a blatant look of bewilderment on his face. "You wanna fight? Like right now?" he asked bluntly.

Annoyed, Kaida grunted in response. "Ah, yes. That was the whole point of me staying behind to fight you, you know?"

"Oh was it now?" Katto lightly chuckled, taking his own Kunai from a pouch located on the lower of his left leg. "Well let's get to it then. Your Genin should have arrived by now."

* * *

Misato lead the group through the tree tops. They had gotten away and were now on their way home. The rest was in Kaida's hands now; their lives were literally in her hands as they were no match for a Jounin on their own or even with the summoned cats help. They'd die if they were forced to go up against Katto, so she had to ensure that the group moved as fast as possible. Kaida had trusted her with this responsibility and she was not going to let her down. The sounds of battle were now right behind them and at one stage during their departure; Inazumako had informed them that he had smelt blood, the wind blowing at their backs.

Stealing a glance to the right back towards Kenji, she noted that he had an intense look in his eyes. Obviously he was not okay with leaving Kaida behind to deal with things on her own. _'He of little faith'_ Misato mused while turning over to the left to look at Yuji. Yuji had a pained look on his face but it appeared that he had accepted Kaida's declaration of being able to take on all three at once. 'I mean why shouldn't he? The three summoned cats have been with her for years and they appear to be fine with it' she rationalised.

Looking over at the cats again, she confirmed it one last time. They were perfectly calm; none of them looked worried at all. Ayumu on the other hand looked like he was going to throw up. _'Poor kid'_ she inwardly sympathized. A lot of things were happening to him right now, being kidnapped and all. Feeling motion sickness from jumping through trees top while ridding a panther is really adding insult to injury. Turning back to look where she was going, Misato was interrupted from her thoughts by Yuji.

"Hey Misato-san" he called her; his voice seemed a little shaky but in control of himself.

"What is it Yuji?" Misato asked, a little agitated but calm none the less.

"Well I was just wondering…" he began. "Well… It's just…" trailing off, Misato responded by shooting him a look that screamed hurry up or I'll kill you! "Well I mean… Don't you think we got away a little too easily?" he asked.

'_Got away to easy?'_ Misato screwed her face up at this accusation. "Well of course we did, that's because of Kaida. She ensured that we would, hell she is continuing to do so at this very moment!" she spat, disgusted by the words Yuji had spoken.

A little shocked, Yuji tried to clarify what he meant. "No, no that's not what I meant!" he insisted, gaining Misato's interest once again. "It's just… Well judging by what they said, they've been watching us for hours now. So why didn't we encounter any traps?"

Yes, why indeed. Misato turned to the front once again, he had a valid point. _'Why didn't we encounter any traps?'_ she asked herself. _'Were they over confident in their abilities to ensure we did remain?'_

"Maybe they were lying about watching us!" piped up Inazumako, as he landed on a branch, jumping off immediately after. His suggestion seemed plausible. It would give them an air of confidence at the beginning of the altercation and Katto seemed as if he was the kind of guy to act that way.

Kenji voiced his answer before Misato had a chance to speak however. "Maybe the fact that there is no trap is the trap Misato-Chan!" he voiced.

"What?" cried Misato, taken aback by the boys' suggestion?

"Well, I'm not sure exactly" Kenji admitted. "I mean what if they didn't set a trap on purpose, to make us more cautious about our movement, slowing us down. Or maybe…" he trailed off, seemingly unable to voice his next thought. "Or maybe we just haven't arrived at the trap yet. Maybe they set it up further down, to make us let our guard down."

Misato's eyes widened in shock. "Every body stop!" she called, landing on a tree branch in front of her. The others had all skidded to a halt on branches surrounding hers. Ignoring the looks of confusion she was receiving from everyone, she urged Kenji to continue. "Kenji… What did you just say?"

A bit stunned, Kenji answered as best he could. "Well I'm just saying, what if the trap is up ahead and not around here…" Kenji fiddled with his fingers nervously as he spoke.

'_Yes it does make sense'_ Misato mulled over. It would explain as to why there were no traps as we exited but for that to be possible we would need to assume that the enemy really was watching us for a few hours. It was almost impossible though, considering Kaida and Sokudoko had been watching all night although Kotone's Genjutsu ability is something to take into consideration. Misato was once again taken out of her thoughts by the sound of Yuji's voice. "Wow that's smart kohai, what you read that in a book?" he jeered.

"Yep, sure did Senpai" Kenji answered, oblivious to any insult or sarcasm that may have been included within the comment. "Basic Shinobi Tactics by some guy from the leaf village named Katashi Habake or something."

"Ah kohai, so innocent" sighed Yuji causing Kenji to look to him in confusion.

"What Kenji-san say's has some merit" announced Inazumako. "It is possible that the enemy has set a trap further up. It doesn't take long to do so and they have had hours in which they could have set them if they were telling the truth that is. And how long have we been moving like ten minutes? It is possible that there is a trap of some sort up ahead."

Misato nodded. "Yes it is very possible which s why we're going to take a different path" she announced. "Well head east for about a mile before continuing on our way to Kusa. We do not want to run into any obstacles on our way."

Pansako rolled his eyes and dipped his head. "Sorry to say this but it's a bit to late" he announced. "Take a look behind us."

Everyone jolted in shock as they came across the image of a boy clad in black, Neko ears atop his hoodie and black bangs down his face. "It… It's that Akumu guy…" Kenji managed to stammer in his shock. It was true; Akumu was standing in front of them now, cat ears and all. He remained silent as he stared then down. Kenji, having recovered from the shock, demanded answers. "How'd you get here? What happened to Kaida?" Akumu remained silent. "Hey did you hear me? I asked you what happened to Kaida?" Akumu just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"It appears as though he got away from Kaida and followed us" deduced Misato, eyeing the rouge shinobi in front of her. She couldn't help but feel as though his eyes were on her though, out of the entire group she felt as though he was only seeing her.

"No" cut in Inazumako. "If he did we would have smelt him following us. Kaida is up wind of us, this guy must have been down wind of us from the beginning. We only smelt him out a moment ago when he moved from in front of us to behind us."

"Pretty convenient that we stopped just right where he was don't you think?" spat Misato, a little unnerved by the ninja's sudden appearance.

"It was just coincidence that we stopped where we did" Inazumako ensured her. "It's lucky we stopped when we did or we may have walked right into a trap if we didn't."

"Enough of this!" shouted Kenji! "If Kaida-sensei stopped anyone from chasing us, then who is this guy?"

"It's Akumu you dolt!" Yuji reprimanded his junior, annoyed at how slow he was. "Maybe they used a clone and transformation combo to deceive Kaida-sensei as well as us while this guy waited here for us! If they had knowledge of Kaida's background, which is highly probable, as they were able to recognise her the first time we met, this isn't too farfetched a ploy."

Misato, having had enough of talking, jumped over her squads heads and landed on a branch in between them. "Alright Yuji, Kenji, Summoned cats of Kaida!" she shouted, Pansako rolling his eyes yet again (He was deemed a hero where he came from and he was to just sit back and take it when this girl referred to him in such a manner?) He grit his teeth in frustration. 'Stupid girl!' the thought ran across his mind as Misato continued. "You guys get out of here and leave this to me!"

Kenji began to protest. "M-Misato-Chan. What are you talking about? Leave this to you? What are you trying to be like Kaida-sensei or something? Because if you are I can tell you now that you're not!" he shouted, agitating the girl. He did not back down however when Misato shot a glare back towards him, instead he stood his ground and bared his fists.

'_Stupid kid!'_ Misato inwardly criticized. "Hey I'm not doing this because I want to you little brat!" she barked while turning her attention back to Akumu, who had yet to make a move of any kind. "I'm doing this because he's here!" she explained. Noticing she was getting confused looks from both Yuji and Kenji she sighed, feeling as though she had to continue to elaborate. "Hahn, if he's here. Where do you think the other two are?" Yuji and Kenji both jolted in shock.

Sokudoko piped up. "It's is probable that the only one confronting Kaida right now is Katto. While the other two were sent off into the forest to apprehend us but that just leaves one question. Where is the other one..?" the feline trailed off, leaving Yuji and Kenji to look between each other nervously.

Inazumako answered. "She's probably further down the track. A real annoyance if you ask me but it is what it is" he sighed.

"Right so Kenji, Yuji! You two go with the cats to Kusa and leave this to me." Misato smirked as she spoke. She could tell that Akumu was strong, possibly stronger then her, but that wouldn't deter her. When she fights, she fights for the honour of the Katsuragi clan. She would not tarnish their good reputation on some no name rouge ninja.

Kenji was not sure about this though. "We could help you Misato-Chan!" he insisted.

"Help them!" she replied.

Kenji still wasn't sure. "Come on Kohai… Let's go" intervened Yuji. Kenji attempted to argue but Yuji silenced him by raising his hand to stop. "Every second we waste here, is putting Ayumu-san in needless danger. Who's to say that that Kotone girl isn't watching us right now at this very moment? The mission is to ensure the safe return of Ayumu Wantanabe to his parents in Kusagakure; it's better for the mission if we go with Inazumako-Senpai and the others and act as their body guards while leaving Misato-san here… To deal with this guy."

Kenji was torn. It was true it was best for the mission if this was the course of action they took but… "But the three summoned cats would be able to handle themselves if they ran into the enemy! They're Kaida-sensei's personal summons! They've been with her through things a lot more dangerous then this!"

Yuji closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes it is true Kohai… But…"

"But what?" Kenji demanded, furious and waving his fists through the air.

"But it would be dangerous if that was the course of action we would take" Pansako cut in. "It was leave the kid further exposed and more likely to be injured or worse, killed in our cross fire. Inazumako, Sokudoko and I are only meant to act as the last line of defence. Without you guys protecting us, we are a lot more vulnerable."

Kenji's anger subsided, abet begrudgingly. Lowering his fists he gave in but turned to Misato. "Misato-Chan…" he began, quietly. "You better come back from this because if you don't. You'll have me to answer to."

Misato chuckled. "Hehe, like I'm actually going to lose to this guy. I mean look at him, he's a freak! It'd be a disgrace for me to lose to him."

Yuji couldn't help but smile at her words while Kenji broke out in to a full out laugh. "Ha-ha! Yeah he is a freak, I mean look at him! He has cat ears on his hood! Ha!"

Pansako, Inazumako and Sokudoko both glared and shouted at this remark. "Hey!" they cried in unison, Pansako continuing. "You got something against cats?" he accused. "Wanna say anything else kid?"

Kenji stepped back at their threats and began to stammer. "Uh…U… You… Ah hahaha gotta go!" he cried, jumping off into the trees in an attempt to escape.

"Oh no you don't!" Pansako called after him. "You've insulted the feline name; you're going to pay for that you bratty kid!" At these words, Pansako leapt off in chase of the Genin along with Inazumako and Sokudoko. Ayumu's screams could be heard as they moved; he wasn't ready for the sudden movement.

"Wh-hey!" Yuji cried, also caught off guard with the groups' sudden departure. Turning to Misato before he gave chase though, he too gave her some words of warning before she left. "Kohai's right. You better come back or else… It'll look bad on our records if you do." With those final words he took off after the others.

"You're in charge in my absence Yuji!" Misato called out to him but received no answer. _'He better have heard me'_ she thought, her attention now fully focused on Akumu. After a moment of glaring Misato spoke. "You know I lied about something back there… I really did want to do this" she notified the boy. Akumu still remained silent and still did not move. "So why didn't you attack us while we were arguing? Did you set a trap further up ahead? And why did you reveal yourself to us like you did? If you really do have previous knowledge on Kaida's summoned cats, exposing yourself like that would have either been one of worlds most stupid mistakes or intentional." Akumu still remained silent and it was beginning to really piss Misato off. Gritting her teeth in frustration Misato shouted at the rouge, "Hey if I wanted to have a staring contest I'd buy a gold fish!"

Akumu bowed his head, his first sign of life in the last few minutes, hell Misato didn't even see him blink. "To answer your questions, no. There is no trap ahead although my companion is waiting to ambush them. I'm unsure if you would consider that a trap. And why did I reveal myself to you? You were right it was intentional; I wanted you to know I was here. Finally, why didn't I attack you while you were arguing? Well if I attacked you your friends would most certainly join in the fray. Something I would not want because… I want you all to myself!" As soon as he finished speaking he jumped off of the branch he was standing on and directly at Misato with a kunai drawn and ready to strike.

Misato leapt off her own branch, determined to meet him head on. However, when she moved her kunai to deflect his, her blade went straight through it and part of his hand. "A clone? But how?" she exclaimed. Akumu's figure materialised above her half a second later, before he connected with a powerful back fist to the top of her head, sending her crashing down to the ground, a small dust cloud being created in the process.

Misato slowly, and shakily, forced herself back onto her feet, coughing up some blood in the process. "How'd he do that?" she asked herself. Panting she once again took up her kunai, fell into a defensive stance and faced Akumu who had dropped down to her level and was once again silently staring at her with an expressionless gaze. Misato grunted, pulled out a shuriken and threw it at the boy. The shuriken however pashed straight through him again and the clone fizzled out of existence, as if it was never there.

"It's my clan's Kekkei Genkai" spoke a voice behind her. Misato's eyes widened in shock. She tried to turn her head, swinging with her kunai simultaneously in attempt to stab or slash whoever was behind her, although Akumu had other ideas. He grabbed her Kunai, snatching it out of her hand, kicked her in the back of the knees and brought her to her knees while holding a kunai to her throat and taking a firm grasp of her hair. Akumu held her in place as she tried to struggle out of his grasp and continued to speak. "You asked how I did that? Well… By timing my clan's special Ninjutsu just right, along side a regular clone jutsu, I can move in extremely close to my opponent while not being noticed" he explained.

Baring her teeth, Misato glared upwards towards her captor. "Yeah and why are you telling me this?" she growled, giving up on her attempts to escape.

"Why not?" Akumu bluntly answered. "I mean you're going to be dead in a moment anyway, why shouldn't I gloat my techniques to you? It's not like it'll do you any good if I don't. You're not getting away from here today, so there's no damage in my telling you." Akumu's expression was solemn throughout the entire time he spoke.

Smirking, Misato answered him. "I'm about to die here am I?" she enquired. "We'll see about that!"

* * *

Kaida tilted her head to the left in confusion. "What? What do you mean my Genin should have arrived by now? She asked.

Chuckling, Katto answered her. "It means exactly what it means Kaida-Chan, my little dearest flower, you."

"Grrr what are you talking about you self obsessed bastard!" screeched Kaida. She really had had enough of this guys antics, much more and she'd dare use 'that' jutsu on him. No. The Genin weren't far enough away for her to use that. Not yet at least, and this guy definitely wasn't worth the consequences. Hearing only the sounds of Katto chuckling, Kaida screeched at the man again. "I said out with it!"

Katto raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay chill out will ya. It's not like I'm trying to keep it a secret or anything. In fact even if I didn't tell you, you'd probably find out anyway" Upon his words he raised his kunai, Kaida tensing in reaction, and stabbed his companion Akumu in the head. "See now Kaida-Chan?" he taunted.

Shocked at the mans actions, Kaida gasped. 'W-what?' She thought as his body crumbled on its way to the ground. It never reached the ground though; it disappeared in a cloud of smoke before it ever landed, shocking Kaida even more. All that remained of him were his clothes which now lay in a heap where he had stood. "No it couldn't be!" Throwing her kunai at Kotone, it lodged itself into her left eye socket. Screaming, Kotone quickly disappeared in a cloud of smoke like Akumu, the kunai as well as Kotone's clothes and guitar dropping to the ground in the shadow clones absence.

"I seem to recall you using shadow clones to evade us the last time we encountered one another" the remaining opponent, Katto jeered. Staring manically at her, Katto continued. "Well I thought it would be best to repay the favour. It was a great plan really, Kotone thought it up. She was more familiar with your background then I was hehe." Katto broke out into a small chuckle all the while still keeping his frenzied gaze upon her. His eyes slowly began to turn red as he continued, his left hand moving to hold his face. "We knew that you'd try and get your Genin away from us by trying to fight us all at once and in fact, we were counting on it. With you held up here you see, they're defenceless and they have a Katsuragi in the group. A good pay day if we ransom the girl off to her grandfather, one almost as good as the bounty on your head. Almost."

'_How'd he know that Misato was a Katsuragi?'_ Kaida asked herself as Katto continued. "We know of your works with cats, particularly your ability to use these cats to track scents, so we made some clones. Dressed them up in the clothes Akumu and Kotone were wearing last night, and got 'em ready for this little confrontation here although, Kotone is going to be pissed that you broke her favourite guitar."

Grinding her teeth, Kaida ducked under an incoming, invisible, kunai slash and punched forward, striking whatever had slashed in the chest and sending it crashing into the ground three metres in front of her. "Come on!" she barked, back tracking about 15 metres. "You really think you can fool me with Genjutsu of that level? Come on Katto, I thought you knew all about me? Or is that just wishful thinking?" An eerie chuckle rang through the air at her words and the environment around her warped, revealing a winded Katto stumbling to his feet in an opposite location to where he was standing a moment ago.

Smiling, albeit winded, Katto spoke. "Hehe it's true, your Genjutsu skill are good. Probably better then my own although that wasn't what I was testing just now" Katto explained, standing up straight. "I was testing your strength and, judging by how weak that punch of yours is, you've just confirmed my suspicions."

Grunting while taking a defensive stance, Kaida eyed Katto cautiously. "And what suspicion was that?" she asked.

"Well I was just testing out your Taijutsu skill is all" he informed her. "Rumour has it that you're pretty weak in that area. That you let your old team mates get up in close and do all the fighting while you stood back and attacked them at long or mid range. So judging by your pathetic punch, I can tell that those rumours are true." Katto began to laugh again. "And all the better for me because I revel in the art of Taijutsu!" revealing his Nekode Katto charged. Kaida smirked however.

Kaida moved her fingers in a come get me motion to the charging Katto, who infuriated by this. "Ah!" he screeched while quickly closing the distance between them. A stabbing noise was heard amidst his screaming though and he stopped in his tracks, also seising to scream. Looking over his shoulder to his back he seen a kunai, dug three inches into his shoulder blade. "But… How..?" he asked no one in particular.

"Sorry about that. It seems as though I missed your heart!" Kaida exclaimed, drawing Katto from his thoughts and causing him to look at her. "What? You thought that throwing that kunai earlier was just to take out that Kotone clone? No, I purposely threw that kunai earlier so that I could do that" she taunted.

Katto sneered. "So you threw your kunai earlier and waited until I got into a position where you could inject it with your chakra and stab me with it without my notice. Clever girl Kaida-Chan." Katto proceeded to pull the kunai out of his back when he finished speaking, minding not to scratch himself with his own Nekode. "But I promise you, I won't be so careless as to let you do something like that again" he exploded.

"Hehe, it's too late for that" Kaida giggled. Katto was stunned by her statement but Kaida quickly answered him. "You really shouldn't take your eyes off a ninja. Especially one as good as me." The ground began to shake as she spoke causing Katto to loose his footing.

"Shit!" was the only thing he could say, as the ground around him began to tremor and swallow him up.

**To be continued**

* * *

Well that's that chapter over with. Stronger fight scenes next chapter as well as the introduction of some of my original jutsu (jutsu I came up with). I've already shown a few of them up til this point but I don't think I've named them at all. Either way, I have them named and next chapter will tell you (some of) the names.

Don't really want to eat up to much time with this arc although in the long run it is a fairly import arc for the development of Kenji's psyche. Maybe 2,3 more chapter with these guys and then they be dead lol

Please read and review.


	12. Chapter 12: To Each Their Own Battle

Sort of took a massive break from this, start a file on a Naruto RP site, so fun though I think I've killed some of my team mates :S Not going to write it down here but if you want to know what it is I guess you could just PM me. Hey maybe we can RP together XD

* * *

Misato smirked. "I'm about to die here am I?" she enquired in a cocky yet sweet tone. "We'll see about that!" taking a slight breathe a stream of fire erupted from her mouth, surprising Akumu as well as burning him immensely and blinding him. The boy threw his hands away from Misato in the shock and gave a mighty howl of pain. The girl used this to her advantage; thrust kicking him in the stomach, sending him flying a few feet through the air and following up with a kunai, explosive tag in toe.

Akumu however, though burned, seemed to have some sense of mind within him and he disappeared into the shadows once more as the tag exploded. Having Jumped back and up into the tree tops to avoid the explosion, Misato viewed the blast zone once the dust cleared to see if the Neko eared boy had taken a turn for the worst for the better. "Shit" she swore once she realised that there was nothing there. Akumu now had the advantage again, he was hidden and undetectable.

Though hidden, Akumu didn't remain silent for very long. "How did you do that? How did you perform the fireball jutsu?" the teenager questioned, agony withering in his voice. "I disabled your hands; you shouldn't have been able to use any jutsu let alone that one to hurt me so much." His voice seemed to be scattered, coming from all directions. Misato looked all around her for any trace of her opponent but found nothing. "Answer me!" Akumu bellowed, obviously not liking the fact the girl was ignoring him.

Misato chuckled. "Hehe you're not a very good shinobi are you?" she jeered, infuriating Akumu.

"What did you say you impudent wench!" Akumu boomed. "I am Akumu of the Kurayami clan, the once clan fabled in the Waterfall village for their incredibly precise means of assassination!"

"Wow you really are a pathetic shinobi aren't you?" Misato once again heckled the black clad boy, her sights now fixedly set upon a location on a branch higher up from her. "If I really had used the fireball jutsu your head would be burnt to a cinder right now that was just the small fire stream jutsu."

"Well whatever that jutsu was it was indeed very annoying" the boy said, his voice becoming calmer now. "At least you've made this more interesting for me, I commend you for that."

Misato scoffed. "Well aren't I privileged then?" the Kusa resident flipped the bird in the air, hoping that the boy would see. "I don't give a crap what you think and if you decide to continue on with this fight, I'll kill you, hey I'll probably get a reward for it as well, big pay check in my near future!"

Akumu grunted long and deep, his frustration coming to a boil. "Impudent…"

Smirking once more, Misato threw her hands into a series of hand seals. "Yeah I'm impudent alright" she cried. "I'll show you just how an 'impudent wench' like me fights, Fire Style: fire ball jutsu!" She took in a deep breath and spat forth a ball of fire, continuing the stream as she rotated in a circle. The fire caught alight and burned brightly in all corners surrounding her.

"If shadows are how you fight then I'll just have to get rid of them!" Misato bellowed out in the air, searching for any trace of Akumu.

Once again however she appeared to have no luck in searching for him. "He must have gotten away" Misato rationalised, standing in the middle of her ring of fire. The flames flickered and charred away all the while she was still searching for any trace of the boy.

Feeling something stroke the side of her arm, Misato's eyes widened in shock. "You really are beautiful you know that Misato-Chan?" Misato twisted around and swung a back fist behind her, Akumu once again having got behind her. The teenager was too quick however and a kunai was already on its way to the girls' throat.

'No!' Misato internally screamed in desperation. She dropped her fist and tried to move but was already too committed to the movement. She fell backwards, tripping over her contorted legs. Her clumsy motion spared her life for now but Akumu's blade dug itself into her chest and tore out a section of flesh as she fell, her mesh vest apparently doing nothing to help her in that regard.

'Got to get my footing' the girl once again internally spoke to herself on her way down to the ground. She pushed her arms above her head and flipped somewhat, somehow landing on her feet at the end of the motion. She then jumped back a few feet gaining some distance between the two and clenched her teeth and groaned in pain, a hand going to her chest in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

Akumu looked on in glee. The boy was loving this, the pain he was inflicting on the girl was ecstasy for him and the fact that she was still alive just inebriated him further. His previously un-expressional face was now engrossed with twisted desire "Up to this point in time every assassination attempt I have tried to make has succeeded even with the warning I give my opponents before killing them" he spoke aloud.

"Your reflexes are sharp Misato-Chan I must say I am enjoying myself." Misato took this as the first moment to actually look at him after her fire attack. His face was covered in blisters and his hair was now severely charred, his fringe now absent, her fire having done its job. She was sure he was blind by now, his eyes having glazed over white and blistery but he was still looking at her through them.

Misato distastefully pulled a final kunai out of her pouch, holding it in her right hand, and took a defensive stance, her left hand still adored to her chest wound. "Don't call me that…" she demanded, authority in her voice.

Akumu chuckled. "Fufufu I'm sorry don't call you what?" he outwardly teased.

"Don't call me Misato-Chan" the black haired girl clarified. "If you do… You'll die! I'll kill you!" the girl screeched, disappearing in a cloud of smoke. "Now it's my turn to disappear from your sight, and stab out at you!"

Misato reappeared directly at Akumu's left having used the body flicker technique and caught the teen off-guard. Her kunai slashed out at him but he once again just fazed through the blade proving to be another of his shadowy Genjutsu clones. Adrenaline and fear pushed Misato's sense's to their limits. She knew what was coming next; Akumu's Kekkei Genkai was on its way. Her eyes scanned the area as best she could within a second and she caught sight of a circular smear travelling within the fire's shadows towards her.

The smear quickly prompted up and revealed a silhouette of Akumu which quickly took cover. 'So that's it!' Misato silently screamed. Using the Shunshin to disappear and reappear a few meters away. 'He was using the shadow's of the trees to hide himself before but now that the fire's present he has to pick his attacks more carefully since the shadow's aren't as dark.'

"Thinking of anything in particular?" a young, familiar voice behind her asked. Misato knew who it was and what was coming. She body flickered away and looked behind her. There were now two Akumu's standing before her smiling away happily, said Akumu's began to laugh and speak in unison. "What? You thought that you gained an advantage with your fire? I have methods of dealing with situations like these as well, like any good ninja should." Misato began to repent her calling him a pathetic shinobi before.

She gained some information but then straight away she was faced with another problem. How was she going to get through this?

* * *

Bounding through the tree tops, Kenji took a moment to address his senior. "Hey Senpai what'd you say to Misato-Chan after I left?" the young grey haired boy called back. He was at the front of the group, being the spear head and leading them as best he could to Kusa. He was followed by Inazumako who would be giving Kenji further directions while also keeping a further detailed eye on their surroundings. Sokudoko and Ayumu trailed behind the white tiger while Pansako and Yuji took the position of rear look out.

Yuji looked towards Kenji the latter having his back to him. He contemplated his response a moment before answering. "I just told her not to die, nothing to special." Yuji stepped out upon a branch and leapt off, still following his group. "She also told me that I was the leader of the group while she was gone" he couldn't help but pipe up, Pansako scoffing in response.

"HN, maybe out of you two humans but I don't follow the orders from some punk who doesn't even have the summoning contract of us cats" the pierced feline spoke angrily. "I follow Kaida-sama and only Kaida-sama, you two Genin can fend for yourselves for all I care."

Inazumako eyed his companion carefully. "Pansako that is enough out of you, we don't need this, not right now."

"Why not 'right now'?" Pansako sharply enquired. Landing on a thick branch, he let his claws sink in and cut the bark. When he lifted off and continued on his path the branch shredded into pieces and fell ungraciously to the ground. "I think it's as good a time as any to let these kids know just how out of their league they are when compared to us." Sokudoko and Inazumako both shook their heads.

"Idiot you haven't even noticed yet, have you?" the female out of the summoned cats critically remarked, Pansako looking to her in confusion.

Yuji piped up to answer next. "Listen…" he instructed, Pansako begrudgingly complying. He focused his attention to the surrounding area and heard a slight ringing sound that got louder and louder the further they went on. It was like a high pitched whistle that kept getting higher and higher, it made him drowsy, his eyes beginning to droop in response. A burst of chakra entered his system and he looked to his left and seen his sister's tail touch his body.

"It's Genjutsu" she informed her brother, touching her tail to the forehead of Ayumu who was now already in a deep sleep. Inazumako jumped down to a lower branch level and caught Kenji on his back, the boy having fallen under the Genjutsu's ailments and falling to what would have been his death had the tiger not intervened. "It appears as though we are under attack once again."

Yuji leapt forth and stopped along side Inazumako, forming the tiger seal and then setting his hand upon Kenji's forehead. "Let's hope that this is the last time eh?" Inazumako said while Kenji's eyes opened.

A deafening guitar wail then filled the air, a slicing sound wave following with it creating a gale of air which cut up all the thin branch lines and destroyed all the leaves. The group retreated to lower ground and out of the trees to avoid the wind, Kenji speaking as his body left that of the white tigers and his feet hit the ground. "Well looks like we're under attack again" he said gleefully. "It's just too bad it's the girl, that guitar totally gave her away, I have to say it's not usually in my nature to hurt them you know but I think this calls for an exception."

Yuji looked over to the boy, an anxious look on his face. "What it's almost as if you're glad we're under attack" he accused, not surprised when Kenji shot him a large smile in reply. "Well don't get your hopes up about this being an action packed fist fight, this chicks a Genjutsu user so you're going to have to stick close to me if you even want a chance of getting out of this alive."

Sokudoko's expression became puzzled. "Perhaps I should remain here with Yuji-san to fight this opponent, Kenji-san you haven't exactly proven yourself to be capable of being able to deal with Genjutsu as of yet so maybe you should stick with Inazumako-sama and Onii-san-Pansako."

Kenji waved off the girl cat confidently. "What are you kidding; this is my chance to prove that I 'can' deal with Genjutsu." He put his arm out to the side and gave a thumbs up. "Relax, Senpai and I have got this covered so you go on and get out of here." The cats were reluctant to leave and remained in place for a moment. A senbon then flew out of the tree line, aimed directing at Kenji's eye wanting to piece its way through to his brain and kill him.

Kenji's hand shot up and grabbed it a centimetre before piercing him. The cat's looked to him in surprise as Kenji shot a smirk back to them. "Fine you win, we'll leave it to you" Inazumako answered on behalf of his group as he made his way over to a nearby tree. "We'll send help as soon as we get to the village, the advantage of leaving you behind is that we can move faster at least."

The two Genin nodded as he finished speaking and the cats quickly disappeared into the tree tops. The two of them were met with silence for a few seconds before the eldest of the two decided to speak up. "That was pretty cool how you caught the senbon like that kohai" he complimented, the younger smiling upon hearing.

"Well the bell at the end of it really made it a lot easier you know" Kenji nonchalantly replied, shaking the senbon in his hand the bell beginning to jingle.

Yuji's eyes shot open. "Bell!" he shouted in shock but it was too late. His head started pounding, the throbbing of his brains blood flow becoming all too apparent. Looking to his left he could see that Kenji was experiencing the same thing, the white clad boy dropping to his knees and the senbon shaking vigorously in his hand causing the senbon to ring. Yuji resisted the urge to do the same thing and kept his footing, though not without intense difficulty, as a figure emerged from the trees in front of them.

"Hehe not very smart are you kid?" Kotone jeered as she fixed her guitar to her back once again. Knowing how much danger he was in Yuji attempted to draw a kunai, slowly but difficultly moving his hand over to his pouch. He couldn't move it like he normally could, his hand seemingly going left when he moved it right, and when he finally did set his hand upon his pouch he pushed his hand in and tried to grab whatever he could, he'd settle just for a shuriken at this point, he wasn't going to be picky. Kotone snickered. "It's too late for that" she informed the Genin.

"You wouldn't even be able to throw it straight even it you get it out, your motor skills are completely shot right now, easy prey for me right now." She menacingly drew a pocket knife and flipped it out, the blade locking in place with a 'snap.' Directing the blade toward Kenji but not closing in any distance, Kotone spoke. "Especially that one, look at him trying so desperately to move" Kenji was flopping around on the ground like a drowning fish, every so often getting on his hands and feet but always quickly falling back down.

Yuji having gripped a kunai in his hand brought it in front of him and held it with two hands. "Shut up!" he demanded viciously. "If we're such easy prey why don't you come over here and finish us then?" he offered.

Kotone seemingly complied and casually strolled towards them. "But where's the fun in that? I want you to struggle for a little while longer before I do anything" she stopped a few feet in front of Yuji. "I mean you haven't even seen the best part of my jutsu yet." Yuji's eyes lit up when she suddenly split into two. The two then split into three, four and soon there was a whole row of her. "Oh I see you've just entered the second part of the technique now, the hallucinating, your friend hasn't though" she strolled closer and kicked Kenji lightly in side knocking him down once again, the boy having reached his hands and knees.

"Get away from him!" Yuji screamed as he lashed out at her. The blade sliced straight her but she stood unharmed being one of the Kotone's Yuji was hallucinating.

"Well it looks as though you might be a problem so I guess it's best to just end you right now, I'll play with your friend a little longer though, and hell he might even be fun." Rasing he pocket knife, the blade gleamed as the light hit it, the sun now visible from the lack of leaves created by Kotone's previous jutsu. Yuji tried to raise his kunai to defend but found himself unable to as Kotone's hand edged closer to his throat, the pocket knife touching the skin of his neck.

He closed his eyes expecting the worst but the blade left his neck and he heard the sound of gasping. Opening his eyes, Yuji was met with the sight of Kenji's fist lodged directly in Kotone's stomach. Kenji followed up with a kick to Kotone's right knee cap which tripped the girl sending her crashing to the ground and, after snatching Yuji's kunai out of his hand, tried to finished the girl off with a strike to the forehead with the length of the blade bearing down on her.

Kotone wasn't going down that easy however and she quickly rolled to the side, gained her footing and flipped backwards to gain some distance between the two of them. "How did you?" she asked aloud, her eyes widening in shock as she noticed the senbon which she had used to trap the two in her Genjutsu lodged in his stomach. Her expression became annoyed as Kenji spoke up.

"Hehe yeah I heard that Genjutsu can be overcome with pain in class so I thought 'Hey I got nothing to lose' so I jammed it in my stomach" he explained, the bell ringing with his breathes. "Worked to, still hearing that bell chime and nothing, not hindered in anyway, hurts though."

Kotone steamed with rage and pulled the guitar off her back. "Damn it!" she bawled as she strummed her guitar stings causing a sound wave of slicing energy to range forth, slashing everything in its wake.

* * *

The ground erupted around Katto on all sides, circling him and four earth clones sprang forth, each attempting to cut off his head with a sharp sword made of rock. Katto was to fast for this however and he leapt up the still climbing earth, using it as a climbing wall and leaping from side to side to edge his way up to the top of the vacuum with the clones in hot pursuit. He was making fast time and held a smirk when he was almost out of his cage when the image of what he assumed was the 'real' Kaida came into sight above the small opening.

She was holding the 'Tiger' seal and smiling in anticipation. Katto's expression quickly turned to that of one of shock and he fell backwards with gravity into the earth clones as Kaida spat forth a huge ball of fire shouting. "Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!" Fire engulfed the earth tunnel and shattered the rock encasement, back firing upwards in the process and destroying a shadow clone of Kaida. In the aftermath, after the dust cloud cleared, Kaida looked on as she lent against a tree.

Her four earth clones were still active though were now glowing red with heat and Katto was nowhere to be seen. "Ch should have known it was just another clone, would've been too easy if it wasn't" she spoke aloud to herself. "Spread out and find him!" she ordered her clones, the four of them nodding in response. They each spread out in different directions but were all doused by a stream of water which instantly cooled the clones off upon contact and caused them to crack and crumble away from existence.

Four clones of Katto then took their places and quickly surrounded Kaida. "So you've managed to surround me even further have you?" she rhetorically asked the clones. "Well don't think that that's going to make this any easier for you" she vanished from sight for a moment and reappeared, her kunai slashing its way through one of the clones' throats. The clone splashed away proving to be a water clone and the other clones started to converge on Kaida, who once again vanished from sight, her incredible speed on display, and reappeared ten metres away, the clones dispersing into water once again, her kunai having sliced through them in her movement.

Kaida turned to face large puddle of water created by the dispense of the water clones, waiting for Katto to use it for a water jutsu. 'Come on Katto, I don't have all day you know' she mused to herself. A few seconds later the water sprang to life and charged at her at an astonishing force. "'Bout time!" Kaida grumbled jumping over the jet of water; a second jet of water seemingly appeared out of nowhere however and was now directing itself towards her with even more force then the first. 'Like I didn't see that one coming' she internally remarked.

The water struck her and cleaved a hole straight through her stomach until she disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by a badly damaged log. The real Kaida was sitting upon a branch a few metres away, hidden from the battlefield and forming hand signs for a detection jutsu. "Now where are you?" she spoke aloud as the jutsu kicked in giving her a detailed look around the nearby landscape.

A gruff voice answered her quickly surprising her. "I'm right here Kaida-Chan!" exclaimed Katto, slashing through the branch Kaida was standing on from beneath. The kunoichi leapt up off the branch and kicked out as Katto tried to continue with his assault, swiping his right arm towards her, his Nekode adored.

Her foot connected with the opposing Jonin's face and knocked him out of the air but his Nekode had sliced into Kaida's leg leaving a deep wound that would need stitches later on before they parted. Katto chuckled as he hit the ground hard, creating a dust cloud and a small crater in his wake. Kaida landed a few metres away and immediately fixed a hand to her wound. She'd be able to do something with that later but it wouldn't hinder her to an immense level as of yet so she didn't have to worry, she'd just have to finish this fast.

Katto had no intentions of letting her off the hook though and wiped some blood from his mouth as the dust around him cleared, being careful not to scratch himself with his claws. "Impressive Kaida-Chan but I would expect nothing less from the unyielding princess of Kusa."

Kaida shot him a dirty look. "And this isn't what I'd expect from Bureido Katto, I must say you're performing below my expectations the BINGO book must have been exaggerating your abilities." Katto took this insult in stride and bared his fists out in front of him.

"Well maybe I'm just having an off day" he posed. "Or maybe I just feel like drawing this confrontation out a little longer so some giggles."

Kaida pulled a kunai and shot it out towards the man and darted to her right, forming hand seals as she moved. Katto sliced the knife into pieces with his claws and was in direct pursuit of her ready to lash out with his dangerously sharp Nekode. Completing her hand seals Kaida shouted, "Earth style: Rising Stone Spears!" At her words a collaboration of sharply pointed stone pillars rose from the ground and attempted to impale Katto.

Katto proved himself to be to nimble for this however and avoided the barraged of pikes and jumped from pillar to pillar still in pursuit of Kaida and quickly hacked out towards her, Kaida leaping backwards to avoid him. Forming his own and seals now, Katto called out the name of his technique, "Water Style: Large Projectile", and shot a powerful stream of water from his mouth. He wasn't finished there however and, as Kaida evaded left, he continued to make hand seals and called forth another jutsu, "Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"

The stream of water quickly expanded, creating a large dragon of its composition which quickly changed direction and headed straight for Kaida. Kaida had no choice to respond to the large beast and formed hand seals, casting a Ninjutsu of her own to keep the dragon at bay. "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!" she called, the ground beneath her feet then erupting and lifting her up on what became the head of a very large dragon twice the size of the dragon of water.

The water dragon collided with Kaida's Earth dragon, barely damaging the rock monster and reverted back into water. Katto, using the diversion his dragon of water created, had scaled Kaida's dragon and was preparing to strike out at her. Kaida ducked under a threatening cut from Katto's Nekode and punched him in the throat sending him tumbling back down to the ground twelve meters below.

Katto grabbed his throat, gagging in the agony and body flickered to gain some distance between the two.

Kaida stood atop her dragon of Earth, looking down at the man, sneering with contempt. "That's it?" she mocked, confidence echoing in her voice. She had expected more from the man who attempted to assassinate the Takikage but this man wasn't any fun at all. His movements were precise and deadly, that was true but he was lacking the strength the BINGO book said he possessed. Did the ANBU get it wrong?

* * *

Well it's been a while but here's the latest chapter of the FF. Some people who may read this may say that I'm just mirroring the plot of Naruto sort of but really it was never my intent to do so. I'm overlooking my plot lining and making the changes necessary to separate myself from the canon plot but I still want to have the Chuunin exams next. Not sure what's going t come of that but I'll try my best so as to not make it canon, forgive me if you do but really if you go looking for similarities you'll find them, that's true for almost everything.

People might say I'm god modding Kaida a little bit but really I'm not, it's just that Katto is a weak Jonin really. Also comment on my fight scene writing abilities, I really don't have much confidence in them.

Will upload a character profile list in a few chapters so stay tuned for that


End file.
